Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road
by shanejayell
Summary: Humanity joins the Cybertronian wars....
1. Chapter 1

Robotech vs. Transformers: Revenge Road

Starscream cursed as the sleek fighter raced across the sky, desperately trying to get ahead of his pursuers. As the product of Cybertronian technology this should have been easy, but impossibly the wing of four fighters were keeping pace with him.

"How is this possible?" Starscream asked himself, the metallic voice echoing in his cockpit. Seeing no other choice he banked left, arching around to face his pursuers. Twin lasers pulsed, blasting at them but with remarkable agility the fighters scattered, dodging.

'Things were going so well, too,' Starscream thought bitterly. A human collaborator had contacted him secretly, offering new technology to use against Megatron, and so he had ventured out to this waste to obtain it. 'Right into a trap,' he added bitterly.

The fighters bobbed and weaved across the blue, streams of tracer fire aching dangerously close to his wings, some kind of high density projectiles. Starscream returned fire, but they were like ghosts, far faster and maneuverable than any human fighter he had faced, possibly even a match for his old friend Skyfire.

'The Autobots,' Starscream thought to himself furiously, 'they did this, gave our technology to these Micronian worms...'

With a thought Starscream transformed, modular segments of his body shifting around to take on his robot mode. The humanoid robot body gave him full access to his weapons and allowing him to hover and easily pick the enemy force off. He brought his arms up, the slim cannons mounted on each ready then froze in shock at what he saw.

"No," was all Starscream could manage.

The cockpit and nose cone of the human fighter shifted downward as the central body slid apart, segments moving to predetermined places. The powerful rocket engines pointed down from each foot, the humanoid figure cradling a heavy looking rifle aimed directly at Starscream, the other three fighters following suit.

"This is Izzy Randal of the Robotech Defense force," the voice came over a Decepticon frequency, "normally I'd offer you the chance to surrender or die."

'We can communicate,' Starscream thought wildly as the human piloted robots moved to bracket him, 'I can bargain with them, maybe get out of...'

"But today we're not taking prisoners," Izzy finished coldly as all four of them opened fire, high density projectiles tearing through alien armor.

The four fighters gracefully landed on the deserted airfield, once the home to some of the United States darkest black projects. Now it was home to a initiative prompted by desperate necessity, a project looking for a way for humanity to enter into a war for their very survival.

The cockpit of the lead fighter, a sleek craft edged in green, popped open as a young woman climbed out, her lieutenant's bars still shiny on her collar. She walked to the woman standing on the edge of the field and saluted, "Commander Hayes."

Lisa Hayes returned the salute, her long brown hair flowing over her uniform. "Welcome back Izzy," she said, "how did it go?"

"Scratch one Decepticon," Izzy flashed a dangerous smile, taking off her curved helm, the visor clipped back. "He's flaming wreckage over Nevada," she finished, her own dark red hair falling into her eyes.

"The Admiral will be glad to hear that," Lisa said as the fighters were rolled into the hangers, powerful motors lowering the specially built bunkers into the earth itself. She lead the way through a rocky outcropping, disguising the elevator down as she continued, "I think Dr. Lang would have liked another subject, but..."

"Sorry," Izzy said, though she didn't sound too repentant.

"I'm just glad we didn't lose any pilots," Lisa noted, swiping a card to grant them access to the highest security areas of the base. There was a soft thump when they hit bottom, the doors opening to reveal the research center at Area 51.

A partially reassembled Decepticon fighter hung in a latticework of cables and supports, scientists crawling over it as they studied the technology, the robot's heavy guns laying on the floor beside it. Components were scattered about, diagrams of various devices pegged up around the work area as they strode by.

"It still unnerves me, seeing Skywarp hanging there," Izzy conceded quietly.

"I suppose we're lucky to have him at all," Lisa noted as they walked up a set of metal stairs, "if a recovery team hadn't found him or if the Autobots hadn't managed to clip him earlier, we'd still be just spinning our wheels."

They passed a tall, blonde haired officer, a lieutenant senior grade. "Well done," Roy Fokker murmured, "the rumors are already flying."

"Don't worry," Izzy paused long enough to give him a grin, "you'll be getting your chance to get the Transformers soon enough."

"You're just lucky they drew your name out of the volunteer hat first," a grinning Roy shot back as the dashing blonde moved on.

"You don't want to keep him waiting," Hayes put a bit of bite into her words and Izzy sheepishly jumped to it.

"Sorry, ma'am," she said respectfully as they reached a door with a guard stationed outside. Izzy and Lisa were ushered through quickly, soon standing in front of a battered desk and the gray haired man behind it.

Henry Gloval was almost a legend, one of the last submarine commanders before the arrival of Transformers changed everything. His cap shaded his eyes, the uniform he wore over his slim but muscular body suiting him well. In his forties Gloval was the old man of the division, but he easily commanded the respect of his people.

"Lieutenant junior grade. Izzy Randal, reporting," she said, throwing a crisp salute, back straight and her uniform neat.

"At ease," Gloval rumbled. He studied her thoughtfully before continuing, "Congratulations, Lieutenant, on a successful mission."

Izzy let herself relax just a bit. "I hope Dr. Lang and his team can get useful data out of our flight recorders," she said, "and compare our performance against Starscream's."

"I'm sure Lang is jumping for joy," Gloval murmured.

Lisa Hayes had moved to one side, taking a seat nearby one of two data terminals. As she was logging on she looked up at Izzy, "I wanted to get your impressions of flying one of the new Valkyries, the other pilots are also being debriefed now."

"Impressions, right," Izzy took a breath. Quietly she ran through details of the launch, the practice maneuvers out over the desert then the confrontation with Starscream, touching on the control responses, maneuverability and other issues.

"Very nice," Gloval nodded. He looked at her thoughtfully a few moments, "Production of the VF-1A, our production model, will be beginning soon. Would you object to being assigned to other units to assist in training as we deploy them?"

Izzy felt a flash of eagerness, "As long as I get to keep shooting down Transformers, sir."

"I notice you don't say Decepticons," Lisa said mildly, "you know that the Autobots are considered our allies, Lieutenant."

Izzy clenched her jaw slightly. "I'm not sure that's realistic ma'am," she answered cautiously, "the Autobots have done as much damage to humanity as the Decepticons, really." There was a flash of something darker in her eyes, "And innocents are caught in the crossfire."

Gloval studied her with eyes that were far too perceptive than Izzy would have wanted. "I'm aware of your past," he finally said, "but don't let it overly influence you, Lieutenant. I'd hate to see a capable young officer stall her career. Dismissed."

"Sir," Izzy saluted stiffly then left in perfect military style.

After a few moments Lisa sighed, "She's not exactly wrong, sir."

Gloval nodded glumly but continued, "She's occasionally a little blind, Commander." He sighed, "Not to mention her personal loss..."

Back in her quarters the underground station Izzy angrily kicked a pillow, wishing there was something more substantial in the little room she could knock around. "Damn it, damn it damn it!" she muttered, "I can't believe I shot my mouth off like that!"

Izzy picked up the pillow and tossed it on her bunk, flopping down to sit on the edge of the bed. As she let herself relax she sudden seemed less like an officer and more like a tired, stressed young woman in her twenties. She rubbed her face with her hands, her eyes tending to a photo that sat on the dresser nearby.

Two women stood there in casual clothes, laughing as they hugged. Izzy looked a little younger than now, her hair longer and dressed in T-shirt and shorts. Beside her a older redheaded woman blushed as she was hugged, trying not to spill the two cups of soda she carried, her long pants and T-shirt suiting her tall thin form.

"Commander Helena Chase," Izzy murmured softly, remembering.

The Commander had almost frightened Izzy on their first meeting, this intense officer with a reputation as a harsh task mistress, and she had expected her tour at that base to be rough at best. But beneath her severe exterior was a goof officer, and as they worked together Izzy had gradually found herself warming to her. Then there was that meeting at an off base club, the slow building of a relationship outside of work, friendship sliding into love.

Then it all came to an end.

The Decepticons had attacked the area looking for fresh power sources, Starscream leading the team only to be opposed by some of the Autobots. They fought a pitched battle around the base, missiles and weapons firing as the humans crouched in their bunkers helplessly, and at least some of their weapons went badly astray.

To this day no one knew who actually fired the shots that hit the command center, turning it into a mass of flaming wreckage, but the facility was a total loss. Frantically digging through the rubble in the aftermath of the battle Izzy prayed for survivors, but in the end it was all in vain. They found the dead body of Commander Chase still at her post, trying to organize the defense along with most of her command team.

Izzy had been numb for a while, going through the motions of her life. She was shocked to discover Helena had named her in her will, had left everything to her as well as acknowledged their relationship. She buried her lover with full military honors, feeling odd standing in the role of Helena's wife, even as the other officers offered their sympathies. As the grief wore off it was replaced with something else, a burning rage.

Izzy reached out to the photo, holding it as she studied the image sadly. "Don't worry love," Izzy murmured finally, "I haven't even begun making them pay for taking you away from me."

End.

Author's Notes: the characters of Izzy and Helena are from the Robotech PS2 game Battlecry, though any relationship between them is purely a product of my imagination.

The idea that sparked this was simple: why weren't humans trying to get involved with the Transfomers war? This has evolved from a blatant self insert to an almost 'battletech' x-over, but Robotech seemed to be the best fit. The idea of Dr. Lang reverse engineering a Veritech from a fallen Decepticon was spawned by the movie Independence Day as was basing this in Area 51.

I don't plan to continue this, but I may be surprised. I expect there will be an Arisugawa's Locket chapter tie in, at least, and if I get enough requests I may fill this out a bit...


	2. Chapter 2

Robotech vs. Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Two

Explosions lit up the night sky as they dodged and weaved in midair, vehicles moving with a speed and grace that could only be described as unearthly. Izzy Randal banked left to dodge one foe even as she swiftly pulled the lever that triggered the transformation of her fighter to it's robot mode. The nosecone swung down as components shifted around, eventually coming together to resemble a humanoid form.

The Decepticons tried to rally their forces against the new foes, but the combination odf heave fire power from below and the attacksd of the Robotech Defence Force were too much for them. In the end they broke and ran, using their slightly superior speed to asccellerate away from the combined forces.

Lieutenant Izzy Randal kept her Battleoid hovwering there a moment as she checked over her wing, the green trimmed white robot shining in the moonlight. "All right, back to base everyone," she said crisply, "I'll check in with the Autobots below."

"Yes ma'am," Hunter agreed, the browen haired young man nodding respectfully as the remainder of the wing peeled off and accellerated into the night..

'Not that I really want to be the one to check in,' Izzy thought, 'but I'm senior officer, and it's my responsibility.'

Her Battleoid decended then she pulled the center lever, switching to the half fighter, half robot mode called Guardian. Boot thrusters carried her forward to the Autobots that were getting organized to move out, the tall humanoid robots pausing at her aproach.

Popping open the cockpit Izzy stood, pulling off her helmet and shaking out her short red hair. "Lieutenant Izzy Randal, RDF," she said flatly, "any injuries or assistance we can provide?" He moved forward from the rest and Izzy felt a faint chill, a mix of primal fear and awe at the red and silver figure who stood before her, eyes glowing golden.

His voice was a deep rumble, but gentle too as Optimus Prime said, "We're fine, officer. You arrived just in time."

Izzy met those golden eyes... and part of her wanted to pull the trigger on her auto-cannon and pump him full of high density rounds. At this distance armor wouldn't be even an issue, it'd cut him down without a pause. Deliberately she kept her hands away from her weapons as she said, "Good to hear, sir. One of our RDF stations is nearby if your medics need assistance."

"Ratchet?" Prime turned his head to ask.

Ratchet shook his head, "The only serious injury is Arcee, and she's going to be fine." The white armored Autobot smiled wryly, "Hell of a way to celebrate her arrival on Earth."

"There's female Autobots?" Izzy blinked, feeling faintly surprised.

Another Autobot spoke up, his golden skin shining as he said defensively, "Of course there's female Autobots!"

"Throttle down, Bumblebee, few humans know us as well as Spike does," Prime reminded him. He looked at Izzy, "Our females run our city on Cybertron, Iacon, as well as playing an important role in our reproduction."

Izzy opened her mouth to ask about that... then decided she didn't want to know. "All righ," she said, "then I'd best get back to base. Good luck to you all."

With a burst of thrusters Izzy's green trimmed Veritech took off, switching to fighter mode and soaring off into the distance, unaware of the discussion going on behind her. "So that's the ace the Decepticons fear?" Iron Hide asked, his red armor scuffed from the battle.

Arcee winced as Ratchet worked on her, sparks flying from her midsection. "Wel, her wing certaimnly saved us from Thundercracker," the pink Autobot noted.

"She's a true warrior," Optimus Prime said calmly as he watched the spot of light that was her engines fade into the distance, "I just hope the other stories about her aren't true." A sound very like a sigh, "I'd hate to have her as an enemy."

Sometime later the Veritech descended to the deck, the nets helping it slow to a stop. Izzy climbed out gracefully, saluting as she recognized the figure waiting there. "Welcome back," the commander nodded, her brown hair flowing down her back.

"Ma'am," Izzy nodded as they fell into step on the deck of the carrier Fortress One, out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lisa Hayes had been bumped over into command of one of the new RDF stations here in the former United States while Admiral Gloval was now in charge of overall defense, a arrangement that generated some debate. The world government had been aware of the Robotech project but for most of the planet's military it had been a secret, so haviing the officer in charge bumped over other worthy candidates had been a little hard to swallow.

'Like from Lisa's father,' Izzy recalled.

"I note we haven't gotten any complaints from the Autobot force, so I assume things went well," Lisa said, studying the younger woman thoughtfully.

"It went fine," Izzy said flatly. Her hatred of the Transformers in general was something that most of the crew knew about, but Lisa was one of the few that she had really confided in about how hard she struggled to remain in control. "I met him," she added softly.

"Who?" Lisa looked curious as the lift brought them into the guts of Fortress One. The massive vessel made a aircraft carrier look small, armor plating covering it so thickly it could even survive multiple Decepticon assaults.

"Optimus Prime," Izzy answered her softly. She looked up towards the roof, the metal armor plate that had saved their lives more than once as she said, "I remember that he was there when we dug Chase out... hearing his empty condolences." She clenched a fist, "You have no idea how much I wanted to kill him."

Lisa put a hand on her arm, looking at her with gentle sympathy. "I'm glad you did't, if only for the sake of your career," Lisa said dryly.

"Not to mention the Autobots are our only ally against the Decepticons," Izzy sighed, "but I don't have to like it." She yawned suddenly, then looked embarrassed as she mutered "Sorry, ma'am."

"Rest up," Lisa said, "you'll have more chances to kill decepticons soon enough."

"There's something to look forward to," Izzy laughed as she strode away. She nodded greetings to several pilots, making her way from the hangers towards the pilot's quarters upship.

Behind her Lisa Hayes sighed to herself softly, turning to return to her place on the bridge. The small set of stations and monitors was a hub for activity, young woman and men watching local airspace for enemy activity while monitoring their allies actions, too.

Captain Claudia Grant looked up as Lisa entered, the ebony skinned officer's face lighting up in a smile. Claudia was in command of the vessel and in the overall tactical situation, while Lisa ran the fighter and mecha component, a devision of reponsibility that worked well. It also helped that they were old friends, so any conflicts that did arise were easily smoothed over.

"So how's your latest pet project?" Claudia asked teasingly as Lisa took her station beside the captain's seat.

"Izzy's fine," Lisa sighed, wishing that Claudia didn't feel the need to tease her so much, "and she's not a pet project."

"How about crush, then?" Claudia smirked.

"Aren't you forgetting about my boyfriend?" Lisa frowned.

"Who's up on Mars Base Sara," Claudia pointed out quite reasonably, "helping keep an eye on Decepticon activity off Earth." A pause as she added gently, "And whom you haven't seen in I don't know how long."

"Claudia," Lisa's voice dropped to a low growl.

"I'm just saying that he's not much of an excuse," Claudia said.

"Fair enough," Lisa sighed. She took up her position, checking her board for updates as she added, "I suppose I just want to help her... she's so wounded."

"Fair enough," Claudia decided to stop teasing Lisa for now. Focusing on the pilot she asked, "Do you think Izzy knows how many people are aware of her story now?"

"I hope not," Lisa answered, "she doesn't need any more pressure on her."

"I'm just glad the PR devision for the Earth Government haven't figured out her background yet," Claudia added, "it has all the drama and patriotism in it they could want."

"No," Lisa shook her head, "Izzy is in this for revenge for her dead lover." A sigh and she added softly, "I just prey she doesn't loose her soul in the process."

End, Two.

Notes: I've had semi regular requests to do a continuation, and I finally got inspired. This alternate universe is developing in interesting ways, and is a merger of Robotech and Transformers history. Time period is clearly mid 21st century, though what year exactly is harder to guess. I've has a Arcee/Izzy romance suggested (tho I'm not sure how that'd work) and I'm laying down the possibility of a Lisa/Izzy thing, too.


	3. Chapter 3

Robotech Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Three

Izzy Randal sat at a back table at the remote little dive, a bottle of scotch open on the table in front of her, her glass full. She wore a battered bomber jacket, various patches sewed on, a T-shirt underneath and worn jeans. The red haired woman took a drink, pausing to savor the burn, then set the glass down with a soft thump.

"This a private party, or can I join you?" the young man asked, his brown hair falling into his eyes in a messy mop.

"Jack," Izzy smiled in recognition, "just in time."

Jack Archer pulled out a chair, sitting down by his fellow pilot and old friend. "I'd never miss the anniversary," he said gently, taking the glass she had left for him and filling it. "Any of the others coming?" he asked, taking his own jacket off and hanging it on his chair.

"Max Sterling sends his regrets," Izzy said with a half smile, "he's off planet on one of the new space defense platforms along with his usual partner in crime, Ben Dixon. They're hoping to intercept Decepticon reinforcements from orbit."

"Think they have a chance?" Jack asked, his casual air gone, replaced by the look of a professional soldier.

Izzy made a uncertain gesture. "Maybe," she said, "our Battloids are good, but we still can't quite mach a Decepticon one-on-one, we have to hit them in packs. If we have a strong enough force up there we can win, but it's going to be bloody."

"About what I figured," Jack sighed, "what the hell is command thinking?"

"Remember what Helena used to say?" Izzy smiled slightly.

"Don't try to second guess command," Jack quoted, "you can't second guess stupidity."

They both shared a comfortable laugh, sitting together in the shadows of the bar. They, along with a few others, had been survivors of the attack on the base that had killed their friend Helena Chase and others, and every year they got back together at this bar near the rebuilt base to share memories and catch up on the anniversary of that day.

"You got promoted again?" Izzy asked.

"Lieutenant, after being busted down a few times," Jack grinned, "I bet Helena'd have been surprised I made it."

"Not really," Izzy surprised him, "we talked about you once or twice."

"Oh?" Jack raised his eyebrow curiously.

"She always thought well of you," Izzy grinned at him, "even when your latest stunt was driving her nuts. Helena once said you'd be a great success or get killed by a superior officer, one of the two."

"I can almost imagine her saying that," Jack shook his head ruefully. He took a drink, "I always wished I could find someone who suited me the same way you and Helena had. You never seemed to have any troubles..."

"It wasn't perfect," Izzy said, "we had problems with work keeping us apart, the usual couples stuff. We just found ways to deal with it."

"Still, you two were pretty cool," Jack said then he smiled suddenly, almost as if a random memory amused him.

"What?" Izzy asked.

"It was just before your six month anniversary together, and Chase was running around trying to figure out what to get you," Jack chuckled, "I don't think I ever saw our usually cool and collected Commander so frantic before. It was pretty funny."

"I still have the bracelet she gave me," Izzy smiled warmly, thinking of the silver band that rested in a box in her desk.

Jack picked up his glass, the light shining through it as he offered the toast, "To absent friends."

"Absent friends," Izzy agreed as they tapped their glasses together.

Meanwhile, aboard the carrier Fortress One Commander Lisa Hayes frowned at her station on the busy bridge, studying her fighter and mecha command station. The brown haired woman was crisp and neat, military through and through, and seemed to project a aura of solitude around her amid the usual chaos.

"Don't worry so much," Captain Claudia Grant said gently from her seat nearby, "she'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about Izzy," Lisa answered a bit defensively.

Claudia looked amused, her dark skin nearly matching her brown hair. "You've been fretting about it all day, you know," she pointed out.

Lisa frowned at her, then sighed. "Today is the anniversary of the death of her lover," she said, "I doubt she's going to be all right."

"It's something she has to face," Claudia said. A faint smile tugged at her lips, "I was glad to see she arranged a ride out there and home, too."

"I don't want to imagine the damage she could do while piloting a veritech while drunk," Lisa shook her head.

"She's not that dumb," Claudia smiled. She looked at Lisa curiously, "Have you told her about the request the Autobots made?"

"For her to part-time as their RDF liaison?" Lisa grimaced. "She's going to turn them down flat," she said, "and without a care to the consequences to her career."

"Most officers would consider it a honor," Claudia said wryly.

"Izzy wouldn't," Lisa sighed. "Even if she's softened her stance a bit, she still loathes the Autobots almost as much as the Decepticons."

"Yet she can still work with them," Claudia said thoughtfully, "her self control is really pretty impressive."

"True," Lisa said, deciding not to mention the time Izzy nearly blew Optimus Prime away a few weeks ago. Idily she ran through her pilot status reports then blinked, "No wonder you're not worried."

"Roy's going out to pick her up," Claudia confirmed. Her expression was faintly sad, "He knew Chase a while back, wanted to pay his respects."

"Gloval did, too," Lisa nodded, referring to their previous commander, now the head of the RDF and overall military commander of Earth's defense.

"I occassionally find it surprising how close knit the RDF is," Claudia admitted.

"The best pilots always seem to know one another," Lisa conceded, "so I suppose it only makes sense."

"Well, Izzy'll be home for you to check on soon," Claudia smirked.

Lisa rolled her eyes.

Out at the bar Izzy rose with a sigh, stretching out a bit. "Hope I get to see you a bit more often, Jack," she said as they weaved through the busy bar.

"Do my best," Jack wobbled a bit and recovered. The cold night air hit them both, reviving them a bit as he added, "And don't hide out in your plane too much. Helena wouldn't have wanted that."

"I'll try," Izzy conceded as they stood out under the starry sky.

Off in the distance a rumble slowly grew, then twin figures soared out from the night in a flash of silver. Both fighters slowed then almost as one converted to Guardian mode, skimming along the ground until they reached the bar and came to a halt.

"Did somebody call for a taxi?" Roy called, his blond mop of hair visible even under his flight helmet.

"Bunch of comedians," Izzy sighed.

"Hey Roy," Jack waved, "you and Claudia still dating?"

"Yep," Roy nodded. He looked over at the other veritech, "Little brother, you handing out with is guy?"

Rick Hunter grinned, "He's decent.. for a wingman."

"You'll pay for that later," Jack warned good naturedly as he climbed aboard.

"You'd better not be sick while in the back seat," Roy warned as Izzy climbed in.

"Unlike some people I can hold my booze," Izzy said defensively.

"Yeah, right," Roy snorted as they took off.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Robotech & Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Four

Explosions lit up the sky above the Gulf of Mexico, the deck of the massive armored aircraft carrier named Fortress One heaving upwards as energy bolts detonated against the super tough hull. "Damn it." Lisa Hayes growled as the brown haired woman grabbed at her fighter command console to stay upright.

"Destroids reporting losses," Vanessa Leeds called from her station, the brown haired young woman's glasses gleaming.

Kim Young pushed her messy hair back, "We've lost two layers of armor to port, repair crews unable to reach it due to internal fires!"

Captain Claudia Grant kept in her seat as the bridge shook again, but barely. The dusky skinned officer growled, "How many are there?"

"Not many," Lisa said as she studied the fighter command station, "but they've got Megatron out there."

Floating high above Fortress One Megatron stood ahead of five Decepticons, the silver-grey giant focused with deadly intensity on the massive vessel. "Breech their defenses," he commanded his troops.

"We're trying," Thundercracker said as he fired his incenderary guns, superheating the enemy's armor, "but we don't have much time!"

"We'll crack them like an egg," Thrust said cockily.

"Where are the Constructicons?" Megatron fired his arm cannon even as they dodged fired from destroids on the surface of Fortress One. "What happened to the Insecticons?" he demanded coldly.

"Attacking Fortress Five," Soundwave revealed, his dark blue armor gleaming, "all still offering stiff resistence."

"Look out, boss!" Rumble yelled out a warning, the smaller light blue Decepticon zipping to the side.

The massive Autobot transport Jetfire exploded through their ranks in his jet mode, then sweeping down towards the battered deck of Fortress One. The rear hatch opened up to release Autobots, dropping the, to the deck even as Jetfire himself switched to his robot mode, red and white armor gleaming.

"All right Autobots," Springer said briskly, the green skinned Autobot hefting a weapon, "let's pay the humans back for saving Autobot City today!"

"They did WHAT?" Megatron roared even as the first beams of energy raced at them from below, accompanied by more human missiles and projectiles. "Never mind," he waved that off, "KILL THEM!"

"Uh oh," Thundercracker said, pointing off to where even more figures were approaching from the distance.

"Damn it," Blitzwing scowled, the DEcepticon triple changer's abilities largely useless in this battle.

"This is Izzy Randal of the RDF," a woman's furious voice came over all frequencies, "withdraw, or be destroyed."

"Impudent fleshlings," Megatron scowled even as a dozen Veritech fighters arrives, joining in to what was quickly becoming a wild melee.

"Tactical situation changing," Soundwave noted.

"You mean we're out gunned," Rumble agreed, firing too.

"Remember there are Autobots on Fortress One," Izzy said as the redhead pilot lead the charge on the Decepticon forces, "anything else is a fair target."

"Understood," Rick Hunter said nervously. The brown haired pilot paused then asked, "What about... Megatron?"

"He's mine," Izzy purred as her wing engaged the enemy.

The RDF forces all rapidly shifted to either the Guardian or Battleoid modes, the half robot or fully robotic forms best suited to this kind of slower midair combat. Pairing up they raced to engage the Decepticons, ably assisted by the increasing levels of fire support from Fortress One and the Autobots.

"Incredible," Jetfire murmured as one green trimmed battleoid closed in to engage Megatron, dodging and weaving while maintaining steady fire. With a burst of his own jest he was in the air, racing to help.

"Cursed fleshling," Megatron shielded his face from a eerily precise shot, his armor denting slightly under the powerful slugs.

Decepticon armor could shrug off most Earth arms easily, but they were still vulnerable to physics. A round of sufficient mass and density, thrown with enough force could harm a Decepticon, and obviously the technicians behind the Vertitech had figured out how to do that.

"Withdraw recommended," Soundwave said in his cold, emotionless voice.

"WE can still WIN," Megatron swept his arm up with remarkable speed and fired off a devastating bolt of energy.

'Oh hell,' Izzy tried to move but it was too close and fast, the energy bolt blasting away armor and sending her spiraling down to the gulf.

"Megatron," Jetfire growled and opened up with everything he had, firing off missiles and his rife wildly.

Watching his force being hammered, his momentary victory fading as he assessed the odds Megatron made the only call he could. "Decepticons, he called, "retreat!"

Already transformed Thrust raced away saying, "You don't have to tell me twice." Within moments the Decepticons were gone, vanishing into the distance.

"That veritech," Arcee called from where she stood on the deck, "it's sinking!"

"Oh hell," Izzy scowled as her battleoid sank, water coming in. Blood matted her scalp and ran into her eyes as she struggled with the emergency release. The damage or maybe the water had frozen everything, ozone from shorting systems in the air.

Then, surprisingly, Izzy help her battleloid's descent stop, then slowly but sheerly she began to rise again. Surprisingly she heard her helmet radio activate as she heard a female voice say, "You're going to be all right."

"Heave, ho!" Springer yelled as he, Hot Rod and Jetfire hauled on a chain, drawing the battleoid and Arcee up on the deck.

"Thank you for all your help." Lisa Hayes said as she watched in awe as they worked, slightly shaken by how quickly they acted. With no thought to her own safety Arcee had grabbed the destroid hauling chain and leapt off the side of Fortress One, swimming down to Izzy while counting on her friends to haul them up.

"We owe you one," Hot Rod said, the red and gold sports-car Autobot grinning.

"The battleoid's taken on a lot of water," Arcee reported as they hit the deck.

"The outside release is here," Lisa pointed, trying not to think of all the things that could have gone wrong, not to mention the severe damage all along one side of the battleoid.

With a wet splosh the head of the battleoid tilted back and the seats slid forth, revealing a wet, battered but very much still alive Izzy Randal. "Megatron," she gasped as she struggle to get the buckles of her flight harness loose, "is he...?"

"Gone, I'm afraid," Springer volunteered. He knelt down beside her, studying her as he said, "You'd make a good Autobot, Officer...?"

"Izzy Randal," she scowled. Her expression softened just a bit as she asked, "Who was it who rescued me?"

"Arcee," Hot Rod gestured, the Autobot grinning slightly.

"Thank you," Izzy nodded to the pink Autobot.

"You're welcome," Arcee said softly. She frowned, seeing the blood still trickling down from Izzy's hair, "Are you all right?"

Izzy smiled, but it was painful as she confessed, "Not really."

"Come on," Lisa grabbed her, "we're taking you to sick bay."

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Robotech Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Five

"She did what?" Optimus Prime actually looked surprised as the red and silver truck based Autobot met Jetfire's eyes.

Jetfire nodded, the massive red and white jet Autobot standing at attention as he gave his report, "The human Randal engaged Megatron in single combat."

"I mourn the humans' loss," Optimus sighed after a moment.

"That's the surprising thing," Jetfire noted, "she survived. Even managed to bang him up as bit before he clipped her."

Optimus smiled slightly, "He must have been furious."

"Couldn't happen to a nicer Decepti-crumb," Iron Hide agreed from where the red painted autobot leaned up against the wall. He moved off as he drawled, "If she was a Autobot, we'd have given her a medal."

"So how did the younger Autobots fare?" Optimus asked.

"Springer, Hotrod and Arcee did well," Jetfire calmly reported, "and they work quite well as a team, too."

"Good," Optimus said as he moved over to a access port in Autobot City, or what Spike still insisted on calling a window. "They'll be working together," he said, "at least when Arcee's other duties allow."

"And Arcee has agreed to this?" Jetfire asked him cautiously. He didn't want to seem to criticize, but on the other hand he also felt he had a responsibility to speak up for a younger officer if needed.

"Hmm," Optimus nodded. He paused, "Is Kup around?"

"That old war horse?" Jetfire smiled wryly as he said, "Yes, he's taken to keeping an eye on the new comers."

"Have him find Arcee for me," Optimus said briskly, "I think it's time for her to start her new assignment."

0o0o0o0o0o0

Meanwhile, aboard the carrier Fortress One the sickbay was filled with noise and discussion as the pilots gathered around the bed, chattering madly. "Ahem," Lisa Hayes cleared her throat, startling the band of pilots.

"Sorry, ma'am," Rick Hunter nodded to her respectfully as he lead his comrades in a hasty retreat.

"I thought you were getting some bed rest," Lisa said as the brown haired officer strode over to the bedside.

Izzy Randal smiled charmingly, "I'm in bed, resting."

Lisa rolled her eyes, "I doubt your doctor would approve of you entertaining your pilot buddies while recovering."

"Doctors are such tight asses," Izzy grumbled, shifting a bit in her bed.

Lisa smiled slightly as she pulled over a chair, looking at Izzy thoughtfully. "Your color seems better," she noted.

"I'm fine," Izzy sighed, "can I please get out of this bed soon?"

"Pilots," Lisa rolled her eyes, "it's only been a day since Megatron shot you down, you know. And you had a severe concussion too."

"Maybe," Izzy pouted.

'She's so cute when she does that,' Lisa thought with some amusement. "Have you heard the latest news?" she asked.

"The gossips," Izzy referred to her fellow pilots wryly, "were having a lot of fun hinting at something, but they wouldn't say exactly what."

"You remember I asked you if you wanted to be a liaison with the Autobots?" Lisa asked.

Izzy looked wary, "Yeah?"

"The Autobots have decided to assign one of their own to be a liaison with us, instead," Lisa smiled slightly.

"Huh," Izzy looked faintly relieved, possibly because she had wondered if command was going to try to compel her to work with the Autobots. "So what will this liaison do?" she asked.

"Help coordinate mutual offences, provide us with intelligence and generally offer any needed assistance," Lisa said. "Frankly, I think Optimus Prime and command got together on this in some kind of public show of unity."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Izzy admitted. She stretched, mincing a bit as she moved, "So who's the Autobot we'll have to deal with?"

Lisa looked away, a blush coloring her cheeks as Izzy's gesture thrust out her firm breasts, the shirt she was wearing riding up to expose her toned belly. 'Damn she looks good,' she thought weakly. "Actually you've met," Lisa said, "the Autobot is Arcee."

"Huh," Izzy blinked, thinking of the pink skinned Autobot she had encountered twice now. "Well," she murmured, "maybe command has actually had a half decent idea."

"From you that's high praise," Lisa smiled.

There was a moment's pause as Izzy's expression hardened. "How badly did the Decepticons hurt us?" she asked in a flat, dangerous tone.

'The tone she used to use with all transformers,' Lisa noted, 'but lately mostly with just the Decepticons. Wonder if she's noticed?' Aloud she said, "We lost Fortress Four out in the Baltic Sea."

"Crap," Izzy cursed softly, "how many got out?"

"It went down with all hands," Lisa revealed reluctantly, "a new arrival from Cybertron named Shockwave lead the assault."

"Damn it," Izzy growled, clenching her hand around her bed sheets. She closed her eyes, then opened them as she said grimly, "We need to be doing better than this."

"You're doing all you can," Lisa said softly.

"No, WE need to," Izzy turned in the bed to meet Lisa's eyes, her own flashing with passionate intensity. "I barely scratched Megatron, and our fighters can only stop a Decepticon in packs... we've got to change that," she insisted.

'God, she's beautiful when she's angry,' Lisa blinked. Clearing her throat she said, "I'm sure Dr. Lang and his team are doing everything they can."

Her momentary burst of energy tiring her Izzy lay back, "Well, they'd better develop something soon." A dangerous smile, "I want another shot at Megatron."

"You'll get it too," Lisa agreed, "I'm sure of it."

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

The Veritech fighter's engine roared as it streaked across the sky, the engine purring as it reached it's destination. "This is Izzy Randal," the redhead radioed ahead on the special frequency, "requesting clearance to land."

"Permission granted," the voice said as the airfield on the desert sands lit up, guiding her down.

"Thanks for agreeing to fly me out here," Lisa Hayes said from the back seat, her long brown hair flowing over the shoulders of her dress uniform.

"Anything to get me back out in my plane again," Izzy chuckled in reply as they descended to the Nevada airfield and what was once called Area 51. While having been released from sickbay the doctor had insisted she not fly any combat missions for another week, just to be safe from any lingering effects of her concussion.

"You're not feeling any ill effects from flying?" Lisa asked Izzy as they rolled to a stop on the barren rock, then the concealed lift slid them beneath the desert floor and down into the hidden research and development base of the RDF.

"I'm fine, ma'am," Izzy sighed.

"And don't call me ma'am," Lisa added teasingly, "we're away from the ship and I doubt anyone here would care."

"Yes Lisa," Izzy flashed a smile as they dropped through layers of armor and earth into the facility itself.

'God, she's cute when she smiles,' Lisa thought. Busy technitians on multiple levels studied salvaged Decepticon parts, worked on new weaponry and strived to improve the weapons humanity was fighting to survive with.

"Welcome aboard," the commander said, his uniform crisp and neat as the dusky skinned man smiled at them cheerfully as Izzy opened up the cockpit hatch.

"I'll be damned," Lisa said as she climbed down from the plane, rushed over and gave him a hug, "does Claudia know you're here?"

'Who the...?' Izzy watched their affectionate embrace and felt a odd emotion stirring within her breast, one that almost felt like... jealousy. 'Why would I feel jealous?' Izzy wondered, mentally shaking herself.

"Izzy," Lisa turned to her, "I'd like you to meet Vince Grant, the little brother of our Captain Claudia Grant."

"Sir," Izzy saluted, keeping her oddly mixed emotions out of her face.

"At ease," Commander Grant smiled, "any friend of Lisa's is a friend of mine. Besides," he added as he lead them through the base, "from everything I've heard through Claudia, I almost think I know you myself."

"Oh?" Lisa asked, frowning slightly.

"Miss Randal is pretty famous in the RDF," Vince said politely.

Izzy gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to say something rude. "Not by my choice, sir," she said to him flatly.

Lisa gave him a very pointed look of warning. Changing the topic she asked, "I understand the second generation fighter is nearly ready?"

"Thankfully, yes," Vince nodded eagerly, "the new light weight armor the Autobots provided was the key to completing it. We'll have both improved firepower and defensive abilities, thought mass production will be a problem."

"Why?" Izzy asked, frowning.

"The alloy is going to be hard to mass produce," Vince said as they entered a elevator, "so we'll only be able to field a limited number of fighters."

With barely a bump the elevator activated, bringing them down deeper into the Earth's surface. "Any idea who's going to get these limited number of planes?" Lisa asked leadingly.

A smile tugged at the corner of Vince's mouth. "Once the test pilots are done with them," he said calmly, "they'll go to our aces first, then into the regular ranks."

A somewhat more relaxed smile appeared on her face as Izzy quietly asked, "Then I'm in line for one of them?"

"Near the front of the line too," Vince noted with a sly smile. The elevator came to a stop with a soft noise even as he looked over at Lisa, "You ready for this?"

"I'm not looking forward to it," Lisa admitted as they all left the elevator.

"Huh?" Izzy blinked, feeling like she'd missed a important part of the conversation somewhere.

"You know Gloval left here when he was elevated to over all command of Earth's RDF forces?" Vince asked as they walked down the hall.

"Yes, I think he's using a Fortress carrier as his flagship," Izzy agreed.

"Well, another admiral got bumped over to command here," Vince started.

Lisa sighed as she cut him off, "My father, Admiral Hayes was put in command here over his very public objections."

"Uh oh," Izzy murmured. "And you two don't get along too well?"

"He's an officious ass who thinks he knows how to live my life better thasn I do," Lisa snarled under her breath.

"You got that right," Vince murmured.

They reached the end of the hall, where a guard waited in front of a armored door. He saluted, "Should I announce you, Commander Grant?"

Vince nodded, "Please."

Pressing the intercom button the guard said seriously, "Commander Grant is here, accompanied by Commander Hayes and Lieutenant Randal."

"Send them in," the voice growled.

The command center within was as busy as the bridge of a Fortress aircraft carrier, but the buzz had a different purpose here. Aides studied research data, went over simulations and badgered scientists for reports at their various stations, even as their admiral looked on from the center seat.

"Commander Hayes, reporting," Lisa saluted, the very model of a military officer.

"Commander," the grey haired older man nodded, looking searchingly into her eyes. He looked over at Vince, "Commander Grant, would you care to take officer Randal over to see the research labs? I'm sure she'd like to see the new models."

Izzy gave Lisa a questioning glance, and the other woman nodded slightly in reply. "Thank you, sir," Izzy saluted him before turning towards the door.

"Lisa," Admiral Hayes rose as they were leaving, "let's talk in my office."

"Don't worry," Vince said as they walked away, "Lisa'll be all right."

"I'm not worried about Lisa," Izzy boldly lied as they returned to the elevator and rose a few levels, "I'm worried Admiral Hayes might get hurt if he pisses her off enough."

Vince snorted softly at that comment. "Sure you are," he said as he studied the number's display, "I noticed you taking your cues from her."

Izzy gave him a withering look as she said, "Every good subordinate does that with their commanding officer."

"Right," Vince hid a smile.

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

The pink and white car raced along the shoreline, silver metal flashing in the summer sun as she enjoyed the feel of wind and water. Reaching the predesignated point the car swerved, leaping right off the edge of the road even as it underwent a startling transformation. Hurtling through the air segments of machinery shifted, moving and changing until an almost entirely different being formed.

With a metallic clang Arcee came down on the deck of Fortress One, the female Autobot rising cautiously as she stood on the armored aircraft carrier. She looked oddly like a human female, her robotic design giving the impression of hips and bust, though like all Autobots she was also clearly a warrior.

"Welcome aboard Fortress One," Captain Claudia Grant smiled as she offered a salute to their honored guest.

"Ma'am," Arcee returned the salute, having been briefed on human military customs. She knelt to be closer, "Thank you for greeting me, Captain. I'm well aware of how busy an officer like you must be."

'Well, well she's both polite and powerful,' Claudia thought to herself. "It's no trouble at all," she said then added with a slight smile, "I'm rather looking forward to having you work with us as a liaison."

"As are the Autobots," Arcee agreed. She looked curious, "I would have expected Commander Hayes or possibly Officer Randal to meet me."

"Ah, well," Claudia actually looked a bit sheepish as she explained, "actually, they're both off base for the moment."

"Oh?" Arcee asked.

"Debriefing with command," Claudia shrugged.

Arcee nodded, "Ah, I understand. Dealing with high command can be... interesting."

Claudia was the one who looked curious this time as she asked, "I thought the Autobots only answered to Optimus Prime?"

"On Earth, yes," Arcee sounded amused, "but on Cybertron we have to deal with the Autobot High Council going over everything we do. Field command is still Optimus' but..."

"Ack," Claudia made a face, well aware of the sort of complications an over active command could cause a field officer.

Arcee paused, looking out at the sea a moment. A bit hesitantly she asked, "Did Officer Randal recover from her encounter with Megatron?"

"She's fine," Claudia reassured her, "if fact, if I know her she's probably out getting into some kind of trouble right now."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Oh my god," Izzy Randal nearly purred as the green haired young woman circled the plane in the underground hanger at Area 51, "I want it!"

Commander Vince Grant looked amused, his black hair cropped close to his head and uniform regulation neat. "As soon as one's ready you're one of the first up to get them," he reassured her cheerfully.

"I am impressed," Izzy murmured as she circled the modified veritech.

The sleek plane sat on a testing cradle, connections running from it to a bank of machines. The outer skin felt slightly different than the usual composite armor, ringing slightly when she tapped the metal with her knuckle, and was cool to the touch. The wings had been swept back slightly, the regular missile mounts beneath them built up, while underneath the cockpit a slightly larger autocannon waited for it's deadly purpose to be realized. Finally mounted on the slightly bulkier rear were a set of secondary engines, twin thrusters that almost seemed to quiver with restrained power.

"The autocannon's been modified to handle a new grade of ordinance," Vince revealed, "we hope it'll be more effective against Decepticon armor."

"Like Megatron," Izzy nearly purred.

"Exactly," Vince agreed, "or any of the other new heavy hitters that have arrived from Cybertron." He smiled, "And they'll have a much harder time shooting you down again too."

"Good," Izzy clenched a fist for a moment, "I'm looking forward to it." She looked back at the boosters, "Are they to improve air speed, or space shots?"

"Bit of both," Vince admitted, "they can boost your air speed, and in a pinch they can be used to achieve near orbit, but they're still pretty touchy pieces of tech."

"Not perfected?" Izzy raised a eyebrow.

"They're ready," a flat voice cut in. Both turned to see a man in a labcoat enter, his eyes hidden behind glasses and his manner stiff.

"Izzy Randal," Vince jumped in, "I'd like you to meet Dr. Emil Lang, our expert on what we're calling Robotechnology."

"It's a honor to see you again, sir," Izzy nodded.

Dr. Lang smiled slightly, "We could just call it Transformers physiology, but I suspect our Autobot allies might object."

"Either that or Gloval would," Vince noted. "Sorry for not calling ahead, sir," he added just a bit nervously.

"It's all right," Lang flashed a slightly odd smile, "I had actually hoped to have Miss Randal be one of our test pilots, but alas her assignments didn't allow it."

"Damn," Izzy admitted, "I would have enjoyed that..."

Before Izzy could continue on they all heard a door slam up the hallway, hurried steps slowing as they neared the lab itself. Looking fairly composed Commander Lisa Hayes opened the door, but something around her eyes told Izzy she was angry.

"Lisa," Vince nodded, his own expression stating that he was quite aware of her mood but was politely not going to mention it. "I was just showing Izzy around the latest designs," he said to her mildly.

"Thanks," Lisa's smile was a bit forced, "I don't want to imagine the sort of trouble Izzy could get into here on her own."

"Hey," Izzy protested.

"It's good to see you, Commander," Lang nodded, "I had heard a rumor you might be returning to this facility."

A flash of something very like anger appeared in Lisa's eyes then was quickly suppressed bu a steely will. "That rumor has been greatly exaggerated," she answered him mildly, "I'm quite happy at my current post."

"That's what Claudia tells me, too," Vince agreed quickly.

Quickly assessing the stress in her friend's face Izzy made a snap decision. "I hate to cut the tour short," she said, "but we're supposed to have a VIP at Fortress One later today. Wouldn't do for us to be late."

"She's right," Lisa quickly agreed. Turning to Vince she said, "Thank you again for showing her around."

"It's been a pleasure," a smiling Vince told Lisa then added to Izzy, "and I hope we'll see you again."

"I'll look forward to it," Izzy told him then she nodded respectfully to Dr. Lang and said, "thank you, sir."

Lisa and Izzy left, both women quiet until they reached the elevator up to the hangar deck. "Thanks for getting me out of here," Lisa said to Izzy quietly.

"No problem," Izzy responded as they smoothly rose. "If you don't mind my asking," she asked, "what did your father do to piss you off?"

"What makes you think it was him?" Lisa asked.

"Who else?" Izzy asked simply.

"Heh," Lisa half smiled. "My dear father the Admiral," her voice had real bite, "wants to reassign me here, to keep an eye on me. He thinks Gloval's been a bad influence..."

"He can't do that, can he?" Izzy looked alarmed.

Lisa felt oddly touched that she cared. "Don't worry, Gloval can override him,' she said, "though I suspect it'll make dad hate Gloval even more."

"Tough," Izzy said firmly, "we can't afford to lose you."

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Eight

"Fortress One, this is Izzy Randal," she said, the green trimmed veritech soaring gracefully above them, "requesting permission to land."

"This is Fortress One," Vanessa Laird answered calmly, "permission granted." There was a pause, "Is Commander Hayes aboard?"

"Yes, I am," Lisa used her helmet radio to jump in to the conversation. The brown haired officer smiled slightly as she dryly added, "The reports of my being assigned away from here were greatly exaggerated."

"Glad to hear that," Kim Young agreed even as she checked the status board. "Lane is open, you're free to land."

A few minutes later and the canopy of Izzy's fighter was opening even as the elevator lift brought them down into the guts of Fortress One. The mammoth super aircraft carrier was several times the size of any aircraft carrier ever built, containing living quarters, repair facilities and much more for it's veritechs and destroids.

"Well I'll be...looks like we've been invaded," Izzy softly murmured as she saw the pink and white autobot who was moving about the massive chamber beneath the deck, lead by Captain Claudia Grant.

"Not invaded," Lisa said to her firmly but quietly, "she is our new Autobot liason officer, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Izzy smiled as she unclipped her helmet, calmly tucking it under her arm as they neared. "Captain," she saluted.

Claudia returned it, the dusky skinned officer smiling slightly as she said, "Welcome back, you two. How did it go?"

"About as well as could be expected," Lisa smiled wryly. She looked up, "Nice to see you again, Arcee. Any problems getting aboard?"

"None, ma'am," Arcee answered, her lips raising up in a slight smile, "we met as planned and I jumped aboard." She looked over at Izzy, "You're certainly looking better than the last time I saw you, officer Randal."

"Izzy," she corrected with a strained smile. "And yeah, considering I was nearly a drowned rat that time..."

"But you were a heroic drowned rat," Arcee teased.

"Heh," Claudia fought back a smile. She looked up at Arcee, "I'm sorry to say I've shown you all the places that your robot mode can fit. The rest of the ship isn't quite large enough for you to walk through."

"Understood," Arcee nodded.

Izzy nearly suggested that Arcee go to car mode, since she probably could make it through some of the corridors that way, but held back. For all she knew, Claudia didn't want Arcee to see any more of the vessel.

"Well," Lisa said briskly, "I need to get out of this uniform." Silently she added, 'And find a bathroom. I was too annoyed to look for one earlier...'

"And I need to go have the doc take another look at me," Izzy sighed. "I promised I would, in exchange for flying Commander Hayes out."

"Good Luck," Arcee said, "if your doctor is anything like our Ratchet, you're not getting away without some poking and prodding."

"Ain't that the truth," Izzy agreed as she and Lisa headed off.

"Nicely done," Lisa murmured, "you were even civil towards her."

Izzy shrugged slightly, "Well she did save my life. It's kind of hard to be snarky to her, under the circumstances."

They reached the locker room, where both of them stripped off their flight suits and Lisa ducked out for a bathroom break. "Welcome back, ma'am," the trainee pilot said, her red hair falling into her eyes.

"Thank you," Izzy nodded, looking at her name tag, "Ensign Isavia."

"Lana Isavia," the young woman gave a slightly distant smile as she added, "formerly with the military police."

"Destroid pilot?" Izzy wondered as she smoothly stripped off her flihgt suit and got out a fresh uniform from her locker.

"Yes ma'am," Lana nodded eagerly as she continued, "though I'm hoping to become a veritech pilot eventually."

"Well, good luck," Izzy said as she adjusted her uniform collar.

Lisa entered, walking over to the locker her own uniform was waiting in. Her eyes widened a little on seeing Lana, then gave her a frosty smile. "Officer Isavia," she said flatly, "it's been a long time."

Lana winced slightly. "Commander Hayes," she saluted then nodded to Izzy, "excuse me." With that she left, retreating at a quick pace.

"What was that about?" Izzy had to ask.

Lisa sighed softly as she explained, "Before coming here, Isavia was with the military police, at a base I was on."

Izzy joked, "And she busted you for something?"

"No," Lisa's smile was utterly without humor, "she posed as a friend while relaying reports on my life to my father."

"You're kidding me," Izzy looked startled.

"No," Lisa shook her head, "apparently one of her reports got mislaid and Claudia found it before passing it on to me."

Izzy shook her head, "And she seems like such a nice kid, too."

"She's a very good actress," Lisa agreed.

Meanwhile, Fortress One changed course, moving close enough to shore to worry a few crew members. Up on the deck Claudia yelled over the sound of the surf, "If you prefer, we could use a veritech in guardian mode to lift you off."

Arcee shook her head as the Autobot crouched on the deck, readying herself. "It should be fine," she said firmly.

"All right," Claudia said, "but be careful."

"Always," Arcee smiled.

With a single fluid motion the transformer threw herself off the deck and towards the shore, her body shifting as she did so. By the time she hit the ground she was in car mode, and with a thump she was off, the pink sports car cruising away.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Claudia muttered, shaking her head.

Coming up behind her Lana waited a moment, then politely said, "Captain?"

"Isavia," Claudia nodded as she turned to the younger woman. Seeing the faintly pained look on her face claudia continued, "Let me guess, you ran into Commander Hayes before I could talk to her."

"Yes ma'am," Lana sighed.

Claudia sighed softly. "I love the woman like a sister, but she can certainly nurse a grudge," she remarked. "I'll try to find a way to break it to her that you've left her father's faction in the RDF."

"She has every reason to distrust me, ma'am," :ana noted respectfully. She looked out at the ocean in determination, "I suppose I'll just have to earn her trust."

"Good luck," Claudia said, "you may need it."

"Thanks," Lana smiled wryly.

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Nine

"Lord Megatron," the large, purple grey transformer said in his cold way, "the humans are... dangerously erratic."

"True, Shockwave," Megatron nodded grimly, the grey skinned figure looking up from his command chair in their base in the sunken warship Nemesis. "They're almost as annoying as the Autobots," he added then frowned, "And why are the Autobots still running free on Cybertron? You told me you'd eliminate them within a cycle."

There was no defensiveness in Shockwave's voice as he said in his usual efficient manner, "The diversion of resources to this front has made a final resolution to the Autobot problem more complicated to achieve."

Soundwave nodded as the blue cassette player Decepticon said coldly, "Resource allocation problematical."

That was something of a understatement. The DEcepticon command had multiple fronts to manage, including the Earth conflict, putting out rebellious fires on Cybertron and the recent launch of Thunderwing's exploration fleet... though more accurately it could be considered a fleet of military conquest. When Megatron first authorized Thunderwing the Earth forces hadn't deployed their Veritechs, and if he changed his mind now he would be shown up before the rank and file of Decepticons.

'And Thunderwing is too ambitious not to seize any advantage he can,' Megatron mentally added, 'it's that very ambition that made me decide he and his allies need to be sent far away from Cybertron.'

"We have successfully destroyed one of their new outposts," Soundwave said after a moment, "but the Humans' Fortresses are remarkably resilient."

All of them took a moment to look at the map of the Earth, taking in the sea based Fortress carriers bases scattered around the globe. Formerly ten of them there were now nine, cruising on patrol to be ready to launch their cargo of fighters and mecha to counter Decepticon activities. Marked in blue they were a secondary threat to the glowing red dot in North America, the accursed Autobot City.

"We need more numbers," Megatron growled, "we have to attack them while preventing the others from coming to their aide."

"We can reduce our garrison on Cybertron," Shockwave conceded after a moment, "but it will increase the possibility of a uprising of the surviving Autobots there."

"There's enough 'Bots to be a threat?" Rumble asked, the mini-transformer leaning casually up against Soundwave's leg.

"We don't know," Shockwave conceded with some reluctance, "getting exact information on the Autobot resistance has proven difficult. They skulk like cyber-rats in the tunnels and ruins below the cities..."

"And your agents?" Megatron asked.

"Dealer has been less than forthcoming," Shockwave said coldly, "I may soon have to take steps."

"Offer him more energon," Rumble laughed, "he'll fall into line."

"Dealer is ultimately a self serving being," Megatron agreed, "pay him, get the data then dispose of him."

"I'll so instruct my lieutenant, Octane," Shockwave said respectfully.

"Have Reflector and Ratbat recon the nearest Fortress," Megatron ordered coldly, "we need to know their weaknesses if we are to be victorious."

Soundwave launched a cassette, the purple flat rectangle unfolding in midair into a bat-like robot. "Ratbat, take Reflector, Operation: reconnasance."

With a piercing cry Ratbat took off, sweeping out of the control room to retrieve it's fellow Decepticon. Not long after the bat soared away from the undersea home of the Decepticons, carrying in it's claws the cameras mode of the spy, Reflector.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Explosions rippled across the night sky as a squad of Veritchs chased after their prey. "All right team," Izzy Randal said briskly as the green haired pilot fired off a flight of missiles, "let's wrap this up."

"Anyone got an ID on this one?" Rick Hunter asked, the younger pilot taking up the left flank position. The black haired man kept his finger in the triggers even as he swept forward with his wing mates.

"His colors match Ramjet," Max Sterling said crisply as the blue haired man smiled slightly, "and his behavior, too."

The slightly crazed Decepticon had rammed Ben Dixon's fighter, sending it spiraling away though thankfully Ben was able to eject safely. What had followed was a mad chase across the skies as they tried to catch or exhaust their mad foe.

"Ramjet," Izzy used her radio again, "this is a RDF patrol. Surrender, and we might not blow you out of the sky..."

"Never!" Ramjet yelled as the black and red jet swung around, diving at Izzy,

With a steely calm Izzy opened up, firing high density slugs into her foe along with launching a full flight off missiles. Pulling a lever in the cockpit she shifted to guardian mode as Ramjet barreled out of the smoke and dodged his attempt to ram, then hovered on boot jets as she fired into his vulnerable engines.

They watched as the explosion ripped his engines apart, heart the wailing cry them watched as the transformer hit the mountainside. In a flare of light it was over, the gutted wreckage burning cheerfully in the dim twilight.

"All right," Izzy said briskly, "we'll guard the site until a recovery team gets here." Then she radioed the nearest Fortress carrier, giving their location and requesting the pickup of a Decepticon corpse.

"Anyone up for some cards?" Max joked as they all switched to guardian or battleoid modes, taking up guard positions around the area.

Within twenty minutes the team arrived, destroids setting up a perimeter defense while tech crews scrambled over Ramjet, hooking him to carry lines as they prepared to haul him away. "Thanks for the help," the brown haired technician called.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have carried it to you," Rick complained.

"Wanna risk dropping one again, flyboy?" another tech spoke up, her eyes twinkling with amusement as Claudia LaSalle supervised her team.

Rick flushed. "It just happened the one time," he sighed.

"Once is enough," Max murmured.

"We'll leave it to the pros," Izzy said firmly, "let's move out!"

In a well practiced move the squad of veritechs reverted to fighter mode and raced off, shifting to a combat formation. Sonic booms split the sky as they traveled, only decelerating when they reached Fortress One. One by one they cruised in, lines and nets slowing them to a stop, then they climbed out and road the elevators down into the belly of the ship.

"Welcome back," one of the flight crew said eagerly, "heard you bagged another one!"

"Never mind that," Izzy waved that off, "how's Dixon?"

'Isn't that interesting,' Rick blinked. At one time all Randal seemed to care about her Decepticon kills... something had changed about her.

"He's concussed, but I hear his helmet saved him from any worse injury," the crew member said quickly.

"Good," Izzy nodded, looking relieved. Her first impulse was to check in with Lisa, but she quashed that. 'My commanding officer is not my security blanket,' she reminded herself. "Okay," she addressed her team, "dismissed."

Meanwhile, up on the bridge Claudia Grant smiled as the dusky skinned woman looked at her fellow officer. "You know you want to go down and see her," she teased.

Lisa Hayes blushed as the brown haired officer tried to look serious. "I do not," she protested, "I'm sure Izzy's fine."

"I heard someone crashed..." Claudia purred.

"Dixon, again," Sammy Young noted from where the darker brown haired young woman worked filing paperwork.

"You're spoiling it," Claudia rolled her eyes.

Lisa fought back a chuckle. "I'll go see her after shift, okay?" she told Claudia.

"That'll do," Claudia conceded.

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Ten

"Come on, Arcee!" Hot Rod yelled as the red sports car raced along the seaside highway, the golden flames on his hood shining in the sunlight, "Try to keep up!" The water shimmered blue off in the distance, the crashing of waves against the rocky shore nearly drowning out their shouted words.

"Try to take things a bit more seriously," Arcee responded dryly, the pink car's sleek shape cutting through the wind by his side. The trees on the side of the road flashed by as they drove, almost resembling a oversized fence.

"You're sounding like Kup," Hot Rod sighed, referring to the older Autobot who served as a mentor to them both. He was a good man, and patient too, but a combination of age and responsibility made him a bit of a nag in Hot Rod's opinion.

"Sorry," Arcee gentled her tone as she mused, "I think it's from handing around the humans as much as I have."

"Oh?" Hot Rod asked her curiously, the two of them screeching into a turn.

"They're so... fragile, yet they're fighting beside us against the Decepticons," Arcee said simply, "I wonder if I could be so brave, in their shoes."

Hot Rod admitted, "I hadn't really thought about it."

Just then they heard the crack of a sonic boom and both Autobots tensed as they saw a figure shadowing them far above. "A Decepticon?!" Arcee blurted out before ordering, "Hot Rod, get ready to evade!"

"I'll hold them off," Hot Rod added seriously as he slowed to let Arcee get ahead of him, "you've got to get to the rendevous site!"

"Wait a moment," Arcee felt herself relax as she saw the colors and insignia of the fighter jet, "I think it's a friend."

The green trimmed jet soared down towards them then shifted, transforming to the unique half plane/robot that the humans used. "Sorry I startled you," Izzy Randal's voice said over the public address system, "you two all right?"

"Give us a bit of a warning next time," Hot Rod sounded more amused than offended as he added, "I nearly shot you."

"Not a good plan," Izzy answered him flatly, "I shoot back."

Neither Arcee or Hot Rod were entirely sure that was meant as a joke, and Arcee decided not to ask. She really wasn't sure she wanted to know. "So, are we heading out to the Fortress?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," Izzy agreed with a slight smile, "our command wants to try to generate a coordinated plan of assault on the Decepticons... at least, when we figure out where they're based on Earth anyway."

Hot Rod made a annoyed sound, "How do they keep disappearing on us? We know they must be here somewhere!"

"Sadly they're nearly invisible to conventional radar," Arcee noted, "and even your new scanners aren't wholly effective, right Izzy?"

Izzy sounded almost as annoyed as Hot Rod, "Within a certain range it's fine, but much beyond that they disappear."

AS they talked a shape moved closer out on the water, a massive ship that smoothly came up alongside the coastline as it cruised along. The Fortress aircraft carrier was a massively armored base of operations for Earth's military, launching the variable geometry fighters that were now humanity's best hope to defeat the Decepticons.

Arcee accellerated as she told Hot Rod, "All right, I'll meet you back at base in five standard Earth hours."

"Good luck," Hot Rod said then slowed down, watching as Arcee headed for the turn up ahead. Instead of slowing she went even faster, hurtling odd the edge of the cliff and curved out, over the water. With a thump she hit the deck of the Fortress, the same nets that stopped fighters deploying to stop her from flying over the side.

"Good catch," Arcee complimented them as the flight crews swiftly worked to untangle her from the netting.

"All part of the service, ma'am," one flight crew member said to her cheerfully as Izzy smoothly descended to the deck in guardian mode, leg thrusters blazing, then shifted back to jet as she landed with a soft thump.

Arcee shifted to her robot mode once she was free from the nets, the feminine looking Autobot watching as Izzy's fighter descended on a elevator built into the deck. She stepped on a similarly marked one and dropped below decks, too, emerging into the cavern like interior of the massive Fortress carrier.

Inside the carrier bustled with activity, crews preparing fighters for launch, others hauling flats of missiles or ammunition while pilots readied themselves for battle. Over to one side of the massive chamber a improvised meeting area had been set up, taking advantage of the high ceiling of the hanger to include Arcee.

"Welcome aboard," Lisa Hayes nodded respectfully to Arcee even as he kept half an eye on Izzy climbing out of her plane.

"Glad to be here," Arcee said respectfully.

Izzy strode towards them as she took off her helmet, running a hand through her short green hair. "I hope the Autobots have some new intelligence," Izzy noted wryly as she sat with several officers around the briefing table, "I'm getting damn tired of chasing down false Decepticon sightings."

The biggest problem humanity was faced with in their war with the Decepticons was finding them. They seemed to be able to strike quickly then vanish, and something about their unique technology made them difficult to track. Normal radar failed to lock on them, as did sonar and other methods of detection.

"I don't know how much help this will be," Arcee said as she passed a disk to Lisa, "but we've compiled all the attack data on decepticon attacks in the last year."

"We'll add this to our data," Lisa said thoughtfully as she activated a holographic display charting Decepticon activity, "see what comes up."

Izzy's lips thinned out as she pressed them together hard, her eyes narrowing as they saw the red marks appearing all over the map marking Decepticon activity. "They're as busy as ever," she growled, "even after killing several of their fighters..."

Arcee nodded glumly, "Despite their losses the Decepticons still have a powerful reserve of fighters on Cybertron."

"I notice," Lisa changed the subject, "that while they hit all over the country, their attacks are mostly on the west coast..."

"Which makes sense, considering the natural resources there," Izzy nodded curtly, not looking at the symbol that covered the military base where her lover Helena Chase died.

"There might be another reason too," Arcee frowned, "expand the map, please."

The image pulled out from North America to a global map, red marks dotting it all over. "They've hit Russia a lot too," Izzy added, "guess for their oil reserves."

"And Asia," Lisa said in a odd tone of voice, taking the control to the hologram and shifting the view.

"What?" Roy Fokker asked, the blonde pilot realizing that Lisa was acting like she had seen something.

"Look at the concentration of attacks on the shores of the Pacific ocean," Lisa pointed to the red dots nearly surrounding the body of water.

Izzy sat up, her eyes widening as she said, "It can't be that simple."

"What?" Arcee asked, looking down at them with a frown.

Lisa pointed towards the center of the ocean, "What if they're basing themselves somewhere out there under water?"

Roy began to curse softly, "It certainly explains why we can't find their base on land. And if it is underwater, they'd only be visible coming and going."

Arcee nodded grimly, "And the Decepticons know Autobots don't function very well underwater, either."

"Can we mobilize the nearest Fortress?" Izzy asked then frowned, "Or maybe something more covert to check it out?"

"I think we're going to have to," Lisa agreed as they set to work looking for more clues in the data.

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

The hovercraft Autobot Seaspraw skimmed across the waters, followed closely by one of the veritech squadrons from Fortress Six. "Nothing yet," he said, the Cybertronian's scanners probing the sea beneath them.

Captain Yurika Misumaru of Fortress Six frowned as the black haired woman sat back, listening to the reports sent back from the fighter teams. "Ruri," she looked at her second in command, "anything on sensors?"

The silver haired young woman frowned slightly, Ruri studying the read outs. "No, ma'am," the small young woman said in her usual deadpan tone, "sonar and radar show nothing. Should we drop depth charges?"

Jun Aoi's eyes widened as the short black haired weapons officer pointed out, "That might be jumping the gun a bit, miss."

"Jun's right," Yurika admitted. She brightened, "Is Akito ready to launch?""

Lt. Akito Tenkawa sighed, the brown haired man sitting at the ready in his veritech. "Why me, God?" he moaned, "Why me?"

"Seasick again?" Ryouko Subaru smirked, her dyed green hair falling in her eyes as she sat in the next fighter over.

"Oh shut up," Akito sighed.

"What's this I hear about your doing your hair to match your idol, Izzy Randal?" Hikaru Amano asked, the brown haired girl teasing her fellow pilot.

"I did not!" Ryouko yelped, but blushed tellingly.

Seaspray listened to the conversation as they combed their sector of the sea while thinking to himself, 'Humans are strange.'

In another part of the ocean Fortress Two used it's massive engines on low power to stay at rest against the powerful waves. Captain Titaniva Mu Koshigaya, often called Tita by her friends, frowned as she watched the dune buggy sitting on the main deck, titanium cables lashing it into place. "Why don't more of them have sea forms?" she complained good naturedly, sitting back in the captain's chair.

"According to data I've seen," her second in command Balboa noted calmly, "the planet Cybertron has few oceans."

"I suppose that makes sense," Tita conceded.

Ellyse Aldomordish smiled sweetly as the blonde bridge technician brought a tray over. "More tea, captain?" she asked.

Tita looked at her with a warm smile, "Thank you."

His veritech in robot mode Nichol knelt beside the transformer, his massive rifle at the ready. "Anything yet, Beachcomber?" he asked.

"All quiet," Beachcomber drawled, "not a peep of Decepticon. Sorta hope it stays that way, too."

"Know what you mean," Nichol admitted, sighing.

Over on the recently activated Fortress Eleven the captain frowned at the manufacturer's representative, who nearly cringed under her gaze. "What do you mean," Lindy Harlaown said dangerously, "the main gun's not ready yet?"

Kyoya Takamachi met her eyes as the young man said firmly, "Ma'am, we launched early because of the sinking of another Fortress. We didn't have enough time to complete the shakedown cruise, much less full system tests."

Lindy sighed, "Point taken, I suppose." She sat back, "How long till it's running?"

"We're doing parts testing now to determine the fault," Kyova answered honestly, "could be anything from a hour to a few days."

"I see," Lindy sighed as one of her bridge crew brought her the Japanese tea. To the horror of almost anyone watching she casually added sugar and cream, stirring it before drinking. Noticing his appalled look she looked at him questioningly, "Hm?"

"Never mind," Kyova decided not to ask.

Out on the deck Hoist had taken on his robot mode, sitting cross legged on the deck. "Sorry for all the fuel I needed," he apologized as they preformed their grid search.

Amy Limietta smiled warmly as the young woman stood nearby, "We appreciate all the Autobot's efforts, sir." She looked out over the waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, "Do you think they're here?"

"I would have expected a sighting or two if they were,." Hoist mused, "but maybe...."

"Yeah," Amy nodded, frowning as the cowlick on the back of her head suddenly popped back up again.

As they spoke pilots Fate Testarossa and Yuuno Scrya soared by in gerwalk mode, skimming along the water on boot jets. "I wish we could take a break," Fate admitted, the blonde smiling slightly, "the sunlight looks really warm."

"I know what you mean," Yuuno smiled slightly as he teased, "hoping to see your girlfriend Nanoha in a bikini?"

"Yuuno!" Fate blushed as Yuuno chuckled.

Fortress Eight worked it's way up the California coast as Captain Curtis Lawson frowned at the data coming in. "The pilots aren't keeping to the planned sweep patten," the sandy haired older man sighed. He looked over to his communications officer, "Ayano, put me through to Lt. Yamamoto."

Ayano Hakuhouin nodded respectfully as the quiet young woman hailed Yohko, "Bridge to Yamamoto, come in Yamamoto."

Yohko Yamamoto smiled grimly as her face came up on the screen, her4 dark brown hair falling into her eyes. "I know we're off flight plan," she said seriously, "but Depthcharge says he's spotted something."

"The mini-sub transformer?" Curtis asked, sitting up straight in his chair.

Yohko nodded, "He picked up a exotic power source down there, and none of our subs are supposed to be in the area."

"Is Momiji's aquatic Destroid ready to deploy?" Curtis asked.

Up on the deck of Fortress Eight, a modified humanoid robot fighter commonly referred to as a Destroid waited to be deployed. A non-variable unit if had been customized by the tech teams to go underwater, both with added water-proofing and the addition of a large back mounted undersea drive.

"Are we sure this is going to work?" Momiji Kagariya asked, the lanky brown haired woman sitting the cockpit. A junior lieutenant she was used to being sent out on dangerous missions, but this took the cake.

"The simulations test out," Ensign Erytron Scarlet said quietly, the young woman manning a console connected by remote telemetry to the Destroid.

"Let's go!" Rouge Scarlet yelled, the tall busty redhead standing by her sister Erytron, "Or I'll take it down myself."

"Yeah, yeah," Momiji grumbled as she leapt off the side of the carrier and sp[lashed into the sea. Thankfully the water seals seemed to hold as she triggered the engines, following the Autobot's signal down.

"There!" Depthcharge pointed, the angular light blue autobot floating in a calm pocket beneath the waves.

"Wow," Momiji blinked as the massive submarine slowed it's approach to them. 'It doesn't look Cybertronian,' she mused as she checked her scans, 'but it sure ain't anything I've seen or the computer knows.'

Up on the bridge Ayano blinked, "We're being hailed, standard military frequencies"

"Put it on screen," Curtis frowned.

A young woman with nearly white hair appeared on the screen, looking apologetic. "This is experimental sub Tuatha De Danaan," the young woman said, "I'm her Captain, Teletha Testarossa. Sorry to get in your way."

"Oy," Curtis sighed.

To be continued....

Notes: Yes, those are various other series' anime captains. Yurika Misumaru of Fortress Six and her crew are from Martian Successor Nadesico, Captain Titaniva Mu Koshigaya of Fortress Two is from Plastic Little, Lindy Harlaown and the crew of Fortress Eleven are from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Fortress Eight's Curtis Lawson and crew are from Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko. Finally, the Tuatha De Danaan is from Full Metal Panic.


	12. Chapter 12

Robotech vs. Transformers: Revenge Road

The metallic globe of Cybertron shone in the sunlight, it's air alive with flying Transformers as the Decepticon citizens went about their lives. There were no Autobots visible, of course, but patrols diligently searched the ground for any trace of the four wheeled vermin.

Shockwave watched the reports from Earth, the massive purple robot tilting his angular head sideways. His single eye gleamed as he absorbed the data, his gun-arm plugged into a console for quick access to related data. Finally he pulled free, then walked over to a throne like chair in the center of the room and sat down.

"So," he murmured, "the Humans and Autobots have deduced Megatron is based under the sea. It seems we've under estimated them."

Darkshadow, the female Decepticon, nodded her agreement, her black and gray body helping her blend into shadows. Her voice was smooth, much like the purr of a deadly beast as her red eyes met his, "Is Megatron requesting reinforcements?"

"He is," Shockwave agreed, sounding rather unhappy with the prospect.

"We haven't found the Autobot city," Darkshadow said grimly, "and reducing our warriors will make that even more difficult."

"Can you recruit from the citizens?" Shockwave asked.

Darkshadow grimaced, "They are almost as weak as the Autobots. They claim the name Decepticon but have never faced battle like you and I have."

"Indeed," Shockwave conceded.

Darkshadow was one of the best covert operatives of the Decepticons, known for her ability to break in and explore any Autobot base and sabotage them. She was also a effective assassin, striking down head Autobots and other insurgents. However, she had a unhealthy focus on her 'sister' Arcee, a Autobot sharing a similar design. She longed to kill her opposite number, occasionally forgetting her mission at the time.

"What would you propose we do?" Shockwave asked thoughtfully.

"The Autobot city doesn't appear to be on Cybertron itself," Darkshadow said coldly, "therefore it must be on one of the moons, Kaon or Iacon."

"Yes?" Shockwave nodded, considering. While the moons had been abandoned a long time bringing them on-line was possible, and they would provide a useful vantage point.

"Destroy the moons," Darkshadow shrugged, "that way we don't have to search them."

Shockwave twitched, once again shocked by her utter ruthlessness. While the moons were not valuable, they were a important part of Cybertronian history. Even more important Kaon had been the first battleground of the Cybertronian war, the place where Megatron himself rose to power.

'Yet Darkshadow would destroy them as casually as I would swat a electro-gnat,' Shockwave mused. "I will take your suggestion under advisement."

"Yes, sir," Darkshadow bowed. She hesitated, "May I make a request?"

"What is it?" Shockwave asked.

Darkshadow smiled grimly, "Let me lead the reinforcements to Earth. I long to resume the hunt for Arcee again."

Shockwave studied her a moment, weighing her request. While he hated to lose a powerful warrior such as her he also knew she would be frustrated and out of sorts unless she was hunting her sister. Also, like himself Megatron was one of the few Decepticons she would willingly follow.

"Take a squad of warriors with you," Shockwave ordered, "but leave your seconds in command. I will need them to maintain order."

"Thank you," Darkshadow bowed before striding out of the command chamber.

'Pray to your gods, humans,' Shockwave thought as he returned to his work, 'I have sent death to walk among you.'

Darkshadow smiled coldly as she stepped out onto the walkway, gazing around at the city in satisfaction. She saw the weak run of the mill Decepticons and felt a surge of pleasure, knowing that at any moment she could transform, intercept them and kill them with ease.

"Commander?" the voice interrupted her pleasurable musings. Sixshot nearly flinched from her gaze, but the powerful six-changer met her gaze calmly.

"Sixshot," Darkshadow nodded. "I'm leaving to Earth in the next few cycles," she told him briskly as they walked together, "you'll be in charge of the Reavers squad."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sixshot nodded as he followed her. "Whom do you plan to take with you?" he asked.

Darkshadow swiftly turned, fixing him with a deadly glance, "You were listening in to myself and Shockwave?!"

Sixshot stiffened, "Yes."

Darkshadow smiled suddenly, "Like any good Decepticon would." They started out again as she added, "Be more subtle next time."

"Understood," Sixshot conceded.

"I want Shockblast on my team," Darkshadow mused thoughtfully, "pull him in from his attempts to bait Autobot loners."

"I will," Sixshot nodded. "Should we get Runabout and Runamuck too? They would be useful for infiltration activities."

"Hmm," Darkshadow frowned. The three car Decepticons would be useful, but she instinctively distrusted ones with such forms. They reminded her too much of land hugging Autobots. "Contact them," she decided.

"Will do," Sixshot said as he began to contact them on encrypted communications.

"I also want some fliers," Darkshadow mused. "I will contact them myself, carry on."

"Of course," Sizshot agreed as they left one tower to stand on a launch platform.

Leaping Darkshadow changed, the components of her body moving until a triangular fighter jet soared into alien skies. Instinctively the many lesser Decepticons cleared the way for her as she soared, racing across the sky as she journeyed to one of the major Decepticon cities.

"Stormbringer!" Darkshadow cried as the red trimmed jet slowed as she neared.

"Greetings," the amused voice answered as she waggled her wings a bit, "come to play?"

"No," Darkshadow said with a bit of regret, "Megatron has requested aide and I'm leading a team to Earth."

"And you thought of me?" Stormbringer sounded amused, "I'm touched." More seriously she asked, "Will there be lots of Autobots to kill?"

"Plenty," Darkshadow agreed. "And the human vermin whom the Autobots have been fool enough to ally with," she added.

"I'll enjoy that," Stormbringer said. Reluctantly she added, "Should we call in my brother, Sunstorm?"

"Tempting, but do we have a leash strong enough?" Darkshadow asked dryly. While Sunstorm was powerful he was also frighteningly unstable, often taking off on sudden destructive rampages. Only his sister appeared to be able to reign him in, and even she wasn't always successful.

"I think I can manage," Stormbringer said confidently. "Besides, we could use his raw power."

"True," Darkshadow agreed.

To be continued....

Notes: Darkshadow and Stormbringer are Ocs, the other transformers are all canon.


	13. Chapter 13

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Part Thirteen

While the transforming Veritechs were the flashy stars of Earth's defenders, Lana Isavia often though the real backbone of their forces were the heavily armored Destroids. Like the Battloid mode the Destroids were humanoid machines, but because they did not need to transform they could be much more heavily armored. Even better they carried bigger guns, in some cases having twin gun units instead of traditional arms. While the Veritechs went out hunting enemy craft, the Destroids made sure they had a safe base to come home to.

Lana gritted her teeth as she wrenched around her Mark-5 Destroid, the human like hands clutching the railgun rifle the tech boys had designed for it. The weapon jerked as it fired off high density projectiles, the slugs zipping through the air at unbelievable speeds and tracing along a alien designed jet.

The unknown Decepticon cursed and wobbled as it zipped away from the fight, while other mecha swarmed in the air above Fortress One. Soundwave was leading this raid, the boxy Decepticon delivering commands in a cold voice. Irritatingly he was staying far back, letting his minions try to break through their defenses.

Destroid teams on both sides of the Fortress swept the sky with rifle and canon fire, while the ship's gun emplacements shot out bursts of pure energy right out of the reactors. Veritech teams had been drawn out on a attack on a airbase near the limits of their range, what command now figured was a trick. Obvious in hindsight, of course, but they were stuck for now.

Soundwave frowned as he watched the ongoing battle, the squad of recently arrived Decepticons being hammered by Earth's defenders. The plan had been elegant in it's simplicity, drawing away the cursed Earth fighters, then swooping in to destroy the unarmed Fortress. Clearly, they had underestimated the defenders abilities.

Lana and her squad provided cover fire as a section of hull pulled back, then she dove aside as a voice yelled, "Firing missile battery!"

With a booming rumble the compartment erupted with box-like munitions, which each soared up a certain distance then detonated. Each 'box' then scattered a swarm of powerful, heat seeking missiles that filled the sky as they homed in on the hot, alien engines of the Decepticons. One fighter exploded in a burst of light and fire, the other Decepticons racing upwards as they tried to flee.

"Transform to robot mode," Soundwave ordered coldly, "shoot them down." Some of his minions did but most did not, and the missiles homed in on two more fighters before Soundwave could gather his forces. He assessed the situation coldly, weighing his numbers versus the existing defenses and the unknown time reinforcements might arrive, and made the only choice he could. "Return to base," he commanded, the wounded, ragged group racing away.

A ragged cheer rang out as they saw the Decepticons run, but the defenders soon turned themselves to more urgent issues. Repair teams hurried out in specially build Destroids to pull up damaged sections of the landing strip, replacing them with new armor plating from stores. The pilots on shift began to swap with off duty replacements, fresh fighters in case the Decepticons decided on trying a second shot at them.

As a elevator lowered her Destroid below the deck Lana let herself finally sag tiredly in her seat, the hours of combat making her arms burn. To prevent accidents there had to be a minimum degree of 'resistance' in the controls, and it tool effort to move the war machines. The Destroid pilots had some of the best muscles on the ship, and they needed them too.

Grasping the controls Lana moved off the elevator to let another Destroid on, then walked the machine over to it's repair and maintenance bay. She moved it into place as the rack locked down around it, then popped the hatch as her seat slid back to let her climb out. Holding onto the ladder the sweaty young woman slid down, thumping down with a sigh before looking her machine over. While she was off duty automated systems and human mechanics would go over every inch of her Destroid, readying it for combat once again.

Several pilots going off shift offered to share a meal with Lana, a drink and in one case a bed but she turned them down politely as she hit the showers. Instead a newly clean Lana headed to the cafeteria first, determined to get some food down before another emergency hit. Not that she expected more trouble, of course, but in her experience it was better to be safe than sorry.

The cafeteria was crowded as duty shifts ended, and Lana had some difficulty getting to the food. Thankfully they made plenty as usual, and she loaded up a tray before heading to one of the tables usually saved for the Destroid teams.

Noting Lisa Hayes and Claudia Grant talking at one table, Lana made sure she kept out of their sight as she went to her seat. Sitting down Lana sighed, pulling apart the crusty bun that came with her meal and eating, thinking back to when they had first met....

Back in the day Lana had been a Military Police officer, working on a base far away from here along with then Lieutenant Lisa Hayes. When a request came in from General Hayes to report on the goings on around his daughter she she had chalked it up to fatherly concern, sending in reports regularly. How was she to know that the younger Hayes was in the outs with her father? Even worse, Lisa's friend and co-worker Claudia Grant found out, told Lisa and she went ballistic.

General Hayes had mostly shielded her from his daughter's wrath, but the damage was done. Everyone 'knew' that Lana Isavia would spy for her superiors, and worse her superiors thought that she couldn't handle covert work. That was bad enough, but worse was the guilt Lana felt. She had thought she was merely helping a father keep a eye on a estranged daughter, but instead she had been giving the old man ammunition to use against a officer she had honestly liked. It was a spectacular mess, one caused by her not asking questions and blindly obeying orders.

"Ensign Isavia?" the voice asked, drawing Lana's attention away from her meal.

Looking up Lana gulped, recognizing Lisa Hayes, the older brown haired woman giving her a thoughtful look. "Ma'am?" Lana jerked up, saluting.

"At ease," Lisa said quickly. Knowing they were drawing attention she asked, "May I sit down?"

"Certainly," Lana said, noting that several pilots had shuffled over to give them space. 'Cowards,' she sighed, looking over at Lisa as she asked, "What can I do for you, ma'am?"

Lisa studied Lana a moment, not speaking. Finally she leaned forward slightly, "Claudia had a little talk with me about giving you the cold shoulder earlier." She smiled slightly, "And I called up General Gloval to talk about you, too."

Lana was a bit startled that the Commander had actually gone all the way up to Gloval, but she hid it well. "And?" she asked as she drank some coffee.

Lisa smiled slightly, "Gloval assured me you're loyal to his faction of the military." She sighed slightly, "I'm sorry for giving you a hard time."

"Don't be," Lana shook her head. "Ma'am, your last experience of me was my being a spy sent by your father. You had no reason to think otherwise," she told her.

"Thank you," Lisa nodded. She hesitated then admitted, "It's going to take some time for me to trust you, even with the assurances I've received. I hope you understand that."

"I do," Lana agreed, "but I hope you'll let me assist where I can."

The soft sound of a siren interrupted their talk, then one of the bridge bunnies said, "Veritech wings coming in for landing. Injuries reported, damage control and medical teams to the flight deck."

Lisa was up like a shot, hurrying out at a dignified but fast pace. Lana finished her coffee off and followed, knowing her cross-training in emergency services could come in handy. They joined the response teams on one of the elevator platforms and rose up to the flight deck. Lana swiftly counted the planes and puffed out a sigh of relief, seeing the right number of fighters coming back.

The fighters with damage came in first, even Skull-One trailing smoke as it rolled to a stop, Roy Fokker climbing out and staggering a bit. Izzy Randal lead her squad down then leaped out of her plane, looking around wildly as she asked, "Where's Fokker?"

"Roy?" Lisa asked as Izzy took off her flight helmet.

"Weapons fire got too damn near his cockpit," Izzy scowled, "he may have been hit."

"He looked fine," a medical tech reassured her as she checked another wounded officer out.

Izzy gave him a withering look, "The flight suits seal up after being punctured. He could be bleeding seriously and you wouldn't know."

Lana took in the damage to Roy's plane, including the hits around the front near the cockpit. "Get a medic to Fokker's quarters," she advised.

Lisa nodded, "And check Claudia Grant's quarters, too, he might have headed there."

"Why the hell didn't he wait to get checked over?" Izzy cursed as they watched medical teams check the wounded and emergency squads putting out fires and readying the planes to be lowered into the belly of the Fortress.

"He hates doctors," Lisa sighed, "and maybe he thought he wasn't that hurt?"

"Well, I hope he was right," Izzy said as the Skull-One was hauled down. Disturbingly the skull emblems had been marred by weapons fire, hopefully not a bad omen.

It was only ten minutes later that a breathless medical tech reported Roy had been found and that he was seriously injured. Surgeons were working on him now, but there appeared to be shrapnel in his chest and a unknown degree of damage.

"I'd better get to Claudia," Lisa said grimly, "I don't know if she and Roy were fighting again or not, but she's got to be going crazy right now."

Izzy nodded, patting her arm comfortingly, "Go on, I'll follow once things are under control here and my team's squared away."

Lana watched Lisa hurry away, then turned her attention to helping teams put out the remaining fires. Thankfully they really hadn't been too much damage, pilots reporting the attack had been remarkably light compared to initial reports.

As the last lift into the bays went down Izzy smiled tiredly at Lana. "Thanks for your help," she said, "this isn't your normal duty, is it?"

"I was talking to Commander Hayes when we heard you were incoming," Lana shrugged, "I just figured I could help."

"Well, you did good," Izzy said honestly. Confident her squad was going to be fine she said, "I want to go check on Roy."

"Mind if I tag along?" Lana asked, following a few steps behind as Izzy rushed down the hall.

Izzy didn't seem to care much as she answered, "Go ahead."

Reaching the medical bay they were informed that Roy was in surgery, and were directed to where the others were waiting. Claudia Grant looked like a truck had hit her as she sat, slumped in a chair while Lisa paced, frowning.

"How is he?" Izzy asked, looking at them worriedly.

Lisa looked grim, "There was shrapnel in his chest, some of which bounced around a bit. His lungs and heart were both clipped."

Claudia was staring through a window down at the operating theater, where two surgeons worked diligently on the blonde haired man between them. "They have him hooked up to a heart lung machine while they patch him up," she told them, "but even if they fix it...."

Lana put the pieces together in her head, like a good former agent. "He may never fly again," she guessed, "his body won't take the strain?"

"Probably," Lisa agreed.

The two doctored stepped away while a third medic began to close. One made a thumbs up gesture to them while the other stripped off his gloves and gown and went around to where they waited. The older man sighed, "He lost part of his lung, his heart should be fine but he's got my sewing thread all through his guts right now."

"Will he make it?" Claudia demanded.

"If he gets through the next twenty four hours or so," the doctor hedged, "I'm confident he'll make a recovery."

"He'll make it," Izzy said, "if only because I want to bawl him out for being a idiot."

To be continued....


	14. Chapter 14

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Chapter 14

Izzy Randal strode into the hospital room, the green haired young woman looking determined. Roy Fokker looked up from his hospital bed, the blond haired man smiling sheepishly, "Hey, Izzy..."

"You IDIOT!" Izzy clouted him on the side of the head.

"Oww!" Roy flinched away as the older man said, "Take it easy, I'm delicate."

"Idiot," Izzy repeated as a few tears trickled down her face, "You scared the hell out of us! What were you THINKING?"

Roy winced, looking away. He had taken at least one bullet in the chest in the last battle, and instead of getting checked over like he should have he instead snuck off. If someone hadn't realized he was hurt and sent out medical teams, he didn't know what would have happened. No, he knew what would have happened, he'd have bled out in Claudia's quarters...

"I'm sorry," Roy admitted quietly, "I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

"Probably just dodging the doctors," Izzy sighed as she sat down in a chair beside the bed.

Roy sat back, sighing as he asked, "Has the bad news hit the rumour mill yet?"

"There's a couple of pretty garbled stories out there," Izzy hedged.

"Yeah," Roy sighed. He leaned back, looking away from Izzy as he said, "The docs are pretty hopeful I'll recover, but they're saying I won't fly again." He blinked away a few tears, "My body won't be able to handle the strain."

Izzy reached out and put her hand on his arm, squeezing gently. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Roy put his hand over hers, sighing softly. "Well, I'm still alive," he said to her quietly, "that's something, right?"

"More than something," Izzy answered. She looked around, taking all the flowers and other items that had been left for him, "Popular as ever, I see."

Roy grinned faintly, "Half from my fellow pilots, half from my ex-girlfriends."

"And what does Claudia think of this?" Izzy asked, laughing.

"She ain't happy," Roy admitted ruefully.

They talked for awhile, then Izzy reluctantly got up. "I gotta go," she said apologetically, "but I'll be back to see you soon."

"Be careful out there," Roy nodded as she headed out.

"Always," Izzy called over her shoulder as she left the hospital room.

The city the hospital was attached to was inland, and not far from one of several major defence bases established to guard the continent much like the Fortress Carriers guarded the sea. Modelled after Autobot City the base was heavily armoured and bristling with weapons, intended both to protect and draw enemy fire away from 'softer' targets.

Izzy trotted out of the hospital, once again wishing they could have kept Roy on Fortress One. Still, even she could see it didn't make much sense to have a seriously injured man healing up on a base that was attacked every few days by killer robots.

Terri Okuda watched from the jeep as Izzy walked up, the private having been ''loaned' to Izzy as a driver for her visit. It wasn't that people distrusted Izzy's driving, but she had managed to trigger a police chase last time she was in town for R & R.

"Lieutenant," Terri saluted, her red hair falling into her eyes.

"Private," Izzy smiled as she climbed into the passenger's side. "So, are you still not letting me drive?" she asked.

"The city can't afford the damages, ma'am," Terri answered frankly.

"You've been talking to Commander Hayes, haven't you?" Izzy laughed, sitting back. "Can you run me out to the base?"

"Got it, ma'am," Terri agreed, starting up the jeep and they drove off. "How was Lt. Fokker?" she asked respectfully.

"Depressed," Izzy shrugged, "but I can't really blame him. Piloting was his life, and now..."

They went through the city at a brisk pace, Izzy taking a moment to look around. The city had a 'new' feeling to it, as did many cities in the war. Rebuilding happened a lot with the heavy Decepticon attacks, and the rapid rebuilding techniques developed as a spin off from Robotechnology. Parts of the cities were now modular, and could even 'transform' to reveal devastating fire bases.

They passed through town out to the base, watching as Destroids lumbered by on patrol. "Do you think they'll get that transforming tank off the ground?" Terri asked curiously.

"Why, it doesn't fly?" Izzy teased.

"Ma'am," Terri sighed.

"The Autobots are helping us with the technology," Izzy said, "at least that's what Arcee is telling me. We should have it running pretty soon."

"Good," Terri grinned, "I think I'd make a pretty damn good tank jock."

Izzy didn't have the heart to tell her that the experienced Destroid pilots would probably get first shot at them. They stopped by the hangers and she got out, smiling at the younger woman as she said, "Thanks for the lift."

"No problem, it's safer than letting you drive around," Terri teased.

"I'm never gonna live that down," Izzy laughed as she walked away.

Her Veritech waited in the hanger, the sleek silver-white aircraft trimmed with green. It was the standard 'command' version, and had served her pretty well in the months since she got it. One of these days she would be sent the next upgrade with armour and the new booster rockets, but until then she and her buddy would fly on together.

"Lt!" the maintenance man nodded, moving away from the wheel assembly as he wiped his hands with a greasy rag. His name tag read 'Hawkins' and he had a warm smile.

"How's my baby?" Izzy asked, sweeping the fighter with her eyes.

"Just fine," Hawkins said, "the only think I had to do was grease a couple of wheel gears. Other than that she's good to go."

"Good," Izzy said, "but do you mind if I check her over myself?"

"Go right ahead," Hawkins said, standing back with a confident smile.

Izzy was a perfectionist, at least as far as her fighter went. The slightest flaw or accident could get you killed in combat, and the only thing standing between you and death was your fighter. So every time she took off Izzy circled the plane, her trained eye sweeping it for anything out of place.

"Looks good," Izzy finally conceded. She nodded to Hawkins, "thanks for your help. Best clear out, I'm taking of immediately."

"Thanks!" the young man grinned as he hurried out of the hanger.

A few moments later Izzy taxied out onto the base runway, the twin engines rumbling loudly. Then with a roar and a jet of flame the fighter barrelled down the runway and blasted off, arching up into the blue sky.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Lisa Hayes looked at her captain with a fond but somewhat exasperated expression. "You know you can take some time off, Claudia," she told her.

Claudia Grant shook her head, the black woman sitting in the command chair as the bridge buzzed with life around them. "We aren't married, so I can't take the usual compassionate leave," she told Lisa flatly.

"Oh, bullshit," Lisa growled, "you know they would make an exception if you asked them to."

Claudia shook her head, "I don't want to have a reputation for getting special favors."

Lisa made a soft growling noise in the back of her throat. "At least tell me you're catching rides out to see him when the pilots go visit?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Claudia flashed a smile, "momma didn't raise no dummies."

"That's questionable," Lisa muttered.

"What was that?" Claudia smiled sweetly.

"Nothing, nothing," Lisa smiled innocently.

"Right," Claudia snickered softly. She sat back, her expression thoughtful, "Has a decision been made on who to bump up into Roy's slot?"

"We've got two candidates," Lisa admitted, "one of which I'm kind of biased about."

"Oh?" Claudia asked.

"The one is Roy Fokker's buddy Rick Hunter," Lisa admitted.

Claudia actually smiled slightly, "The one who called you a old lady? That Hunter?"

"Him, yes," Lisa growled. She sighed, "The other is Izzy Randal."

"Your protege," Claudia noted with a smirk, knowing that pissed Lisa off.

"She is NOT my...," Lisa trailed off, knowing her friend was winding her up. "What do you think?" she asked after a moment.

"Who's the most experienced?" Claudia asked reasonably.

"On paper, Izzy," Lisa answered frankly, "but Izzy took nearly a year out after..."

"Ah," Claudia nodded, "which means actual flight time is pretty close."

"Exactly," Lisa agreed. She frowned, "And symbolically Skull One is a important slot, too."

"What does your gut say?" Claudia asked, looking at Lisa thoughtfully.

Lisa frowned, looking down at her computerized station for a moment. "Give it to Hunter," she admitted reluctantly. "Izzy already has a reputation, and Hunter needs the confidence boost getting Skull One would give him."

"Besides, Izzy doesn't want the attention," Claudia pointed out reasonably.

"That too," Lisa conceded. "Who gets to tell Hunter?" she asked curiously.

"I'll leave that in your capable hands," Claudia smiled slightly.

"Gee, thanks," Lisa sighed.

To be continued...

Notes: Yes, I'm bringing in Southern Cross style tanks, too. I'm also debating bringing in the transforming cycles from Next Gen... they're not really practical against most transformers, but they're kinda cool. ^_^


	15. Chapter 15

Robotech vs. Transformers: Revenge Road

Chapter Fifteen

Megatron smiled coldly as his team swooped down, the prototype oil rig in the high arctic seemingly deserted. Raiding Earth's poorly protected data networks the Decepticons had heard about the incredible reserves of oil buried beneath the ice, and they were determined to claim them for themselves and Cybertron.

Touching down Megatron nodded to Soundwave, "Begin preparing the energon cubes, Thundercracker, tap the oil."

"Yes, my Lord," Thundercracker nodded subserviently even as he and Rumble went for the pipe leading down into the Earth.

Silently Soundwave formed the empty energy constructs that would convert Earth fuels into energon, even as the mostly blue alloyed Transformer scanned their surroundings. "Quiery: where are the human workers?" he wondered.

Megatron, frowned, conceding that there might be something wrong as he also scanned their surroundings. He turned towards the others, "What of the oil?"

"There ain't nothing coming up," Rumble complained as he kicked the pipe casing, the small transformer making the metal ring.

Before they could move a massive explosion ripped through the rig from below them, throwing them all off balance and momentarily disrupting their sensors. "Shit!" Frenzy yelped as he fell, the platform tilting sideways.

Out of the ice and snow around them special sensor baffling covers were thrown off, figures rising from the snow as they hefted weapons. "Wreckers!" Springer yelled as the green, bulky Autobot took aim, "Wreck them!"

"RDF!" Izzy Randal yelled from her Veritech fighter in Battloid mode, bringing up her canon even as other Destroids and Battloids took position, "Let them have it!"

The already disorganized Decepticons were hit by a wave of pure firepower, explosions ripping across them as they staggered backward. Soundwave cried out as penetrating shells tore into his armor, and Rumble didn't even have time to scream as a lucky missile impacted right on top of him. As Soundwave fell he 'ejected' all the tape-decepticons, Ravage, Ratbat, Laserbeak and others, though they seemed disoriented by the sudden launch.

"Hold them off!" Megatron yelled to his minions as he ran to Soundwave's side, dropping to his knees beside his injured comrade.

"Die you bastards!" Frenzy yelled, nearly bezerk as he blasted away wildly.

"Megatron...," Soundwave lay on his side, smoke curling from his chest plate.

"We'll get you out of here," Megatron hissed as more weapons fire brought down Frenzy and scattered the other disoriented tape-decepticons.

"Decision illogical," Soundwave managed, "my functions are ceasing."

"No," Megatron growled, remembering the many times Soundwave had stood by him, determined to save his ally.

"You must go," Soundwave looked at him intensely, "bring victory to the Decepticons."

Laserbeak exploded just above them, fragments peppering both as Megatron digested the grim reality. "I will not forget this," Megatron said as he rose, taking aim and killing the Wrecker Swoop with one shot, then blasting apart a nearby Destroid. He visibly ground his teeth as he realized they would be overwhelmed by numbers if they stood and fought.

Skull One blazed in, weapons flaring as he engaged the flying Decepticons in the air, even as the RDF forces and the Wreckers advanced on the ground. "Die, human germ!" Thundercracker yelled, the blue fighter trying desperately to tag the fighter.

"RDF, give 'em hell!" Lana Isavia yelled as she plodded forward, her Destroid's heavy guns firing again and again, the snow hissing as it hit the red hot muzzles.

"Decepticons, retreat!" Megatron snarled as he leaped up into the air.

"No way!" Frenzy yelled as he and the surviving tapes charged the Autobot forces, dodging nearly overwhelming fire.

Megatron thought about trying to force the little Decepticons to obey, but all he could do was kill them, and at this point it seemed that was what they wanted. "The Autobots will pay for this," Megatron growled as he soared off with the survivors.

"Aaah!" Top Spin barely had a chance to scream as Ravage tore his voice processor out then ripped into his chest, killing him as the Decepticon remnants attacked wildly.

"Damn it!" Springer blew Ravage to pieces even as his team mopped up the remaining fighters. The fake oil rig was a smoking ruin, but they had taken out a key Decepticon as well as destroyed the whole sub-group of Decepticon tapes. All in all, it was a good day's work.

Even as the Autobots saw to their wounded and dead the RDF worked on their own people, cracking open armor to assess the injured or the dead. Casualties were light, really, but for the tightly knit human army any loss was dearly felt.

"Damn it," Izzy sighed as they forced the cockpit of the Destroid open, seeing the smoking ruin of a human being. They had hoped the glancing shot had only burned insulation, but apparently not.

"I'm sorry," Rick Hunter said, having helped peel the armor aside with his Veritech's powerful hands. "Did you know him?" he asked quietly.

"We knew each other," Izzy sighed, "not well though."

Rick moved off to help with another attempt to get a pilot out of ruined mecha, even as Izzy lingered a moment. 'Could have been me,' she thought grimly, remembering her own run in with Megatron, and how close she had come to dying.

The snow blew over the battlefield as the teams collected the dead and dying, gradually erasing the conflict. In a few days all you would see was the tilted, ruined platform covered in snow, the scorch marks and craters wiped away.

With a sigh Izzy returned to work, even as the Autobot commander of the mission watched the green accented Veritech thoughtfully. 'She's not what I expected,' Springer mused as his squad finished their tasks and prepared to head out.

"Springer!" Izzy yelled as she forced through the snow. The Veritech offered it's hand as she said seriously, "Good work."

"You too," Springer nodded as he shook it, "you're people more than held up their own end. Pass on my thanks for me."

"Will do," Izzy nodded as he transformed to copter mode and took off, his Autobot team falling into step behind him. She then gathered up her own forces to go to the transports waiting for them some miles away under the snow.

Some hours later Optimus Prime smiled proudly as he met with Admiral Gloval, commander of the RDF. The large truck transformer was appearing via video-feed, of course, as trying to ram him into Gloval's office would be difficult.

"The attack your Wrecker team organized was very effective," Gloval noted as the gray haired man added, "but we failed to get Megatron."

"It gave us a shot at hitting their undersea base," Optimus said with a smile, "I suspect he was very surprised to go home and find it a gutted wreck."

Gloval frowned, "But the Decepticons have only suffered light losses so far. We must press the attacks harder on them."

"Pinning down a flying enemy isn't easy," Optimus admitted. He leaned forward, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Do you think they'll fall for such a trap again?" Gloval asked curiously.

Optimus shook his head no. "Megatron is no fool," he said flatly, "the only reason we got him this time was his greed."

"So we need to bait a trap so well he can't avoid going after it," Gloval mused thoughtfully. He shook his head, "We'll have to think on it."

"I'll put my people on it too," Optimus agreed.

"Will your commander Springer be sticking around?" Gloval asked curiously, his Russian accent giving his words a faint twist.

"He'll need to return to Iacon," Optimus said with a certain amount of regret, "he and his Wreckers are often all that keeps the Decepticons on Cybertron in check."

"You might want to consider creating such a rapid response team here," Gloval suggested, "it might come in very handy."

"I have just the commander in mind," Optimus agreed.

In another part of the world Megatron cursed wildly as he dove down beneath the waves, swimming down to the now wrecked Decepticon starship. The hull was cracked open and water filled the hulk, the interior scarred and blackened in battle. Worse, he saw that the energon stores they had carefully horded were also destroyed, ruining years of effort.

The newly arrived Darkshadow hovered above the waters as she watched her leader rise up. 'How could this have happened?' she wondered, shocked at how effective the combined Human and Autobot forces were.

Megatron exploded from the water, his expression dark with fury as he flew to her side. "Survivors?" he asked flatly.

"Myself," Darkshadow told him, "and my team from Cybertron Shockblast, Stormbringer, Sunstorm, Runabout and Runamuch." She hesitated then admitted, "Sunstorm insisted on standing and fighting, I assume the Autobots destroyed him."

"Hmm," Megatron nodded. He hated losing a powerful soldier, but Sunstorm's insanity made him a liability.

"We fought a running retreat through the base along with the Decepticons stationed there," Darkshadow said, "they escaped and presumedly headed to the emergency meeting place."

"Then let us go," Megatron said grimly as the band of Decepticons left the ruins behind them.

"Looks like things ain't doing too well for our side," Runabout muttered, the nearly pure white Transformer hanging back a bit.

Runamuck gave his brother a wry look, "You wanna try crossing Megatron?"

"You think I'm nuts?" Runabout shuddered.

"That's what I thought," Runamuck answered flatly as the black colored Transformer said, "so shut up and follow the leaders."

To be continued...

Notes: I wanted the good guys to start doing some real damage to the Decepticons, so I took out Soundwave. It's implied in some of the official materials that he and Megatron were close, and I decided to run with that here. Might be a bit out of character, though.


	16. Chapter 16

Robotech vs. Transformers: Revenge Road

Chapter Sixteen

"How's Roy?" Izzy Randal asked, the green haired woman carrying her loaded cafeteria tray over to the table.

"He's getting out of hospital soon," Lisa Hayes said, the light brown haired woman smiling slightly. "He's already nearly buggy from being confined in bed and I think the doctors will be glad to see him gone."

Izzy snickered, "Yeah, I can see that." She ate some of her food, "And how's Claudia?"

"Shaken," Lisa admitted. She sipped her coffee as she added, "I think she always figured Roy was immortal..."

"I know how that feels," Izzy agreed. "Did you finally talk the captain into taking some time off? I didn't see Claudia around today."

Lisa gave a self satisfied smirk, "I bumped it up to Admiral Gloval. He made Claudia take some leave with Roy."

Izzy nodded, "Good for him! I always thought the admiral was a wise man."

Lisa chuckled as she teased her, "Don't be such a suck up, Izzy."

Izzy stuck her tongue out, "Hey, I resemble that remark."

Lisa ate her meal, feeling faintly astonished at how warm Izzy was being. In the time that she had known the intense young pilot she had lost a lover, grieved, and finally began to move on. She had also nursed a unhealthy hatred for all Transformers, but that also seemed to be easing as she interacted with the Autobots.

'I'm glad to see her healing, though I wish she'd ease off on her need to kill Decepticons,' Lisa mused. Such focus could be good in small quantities, but if it became an obsession it could get a pilot killed. Or worse, kill their comrades.

"So who's running things, now that Claudia's off nursing Roy back to health?" Izzy asked, sipping her drink.

"You're looking at her," Lisa made a face, "I'm next in command, remember. If I had known getting Claudia off ship would mean more work for me, I'd never have let her go."

"Yeah, right," Izzy looked amused.

"Anyway," Lisa changed the subject, "is Arcee meeting with us today? I was hoping the Autobots might know where the Decepticons vanished to."

After successfully drawing out a team of Decepticons including their leader, Megatron, a group of Autobots and humans had launched a raid against their underwater base. Using the experimental sub Tuatha De Danaan they had reached the base, cracking the sunken starship and sending forces inside. There they fought their way to the space bridge connecting the base to Cybertron, destroying it and cutting off easy reinforcements for the enemy. Arguably, it could be a turning point in the war, assuming they could find the Decepticon forces.

"Arcee and a bunch of Autobots are scattered all over the place scouting for them," Izzy noted with a frown. "Not much luck, too."

"We really need to figure out a way to track Transformers," Lisa grouched.

It might be due to alien alloys, it might be advanced technology, it might just be good electronic counter measures, but nothing human made could track the Decepticons. And the Autobots had a similar problem, though from what Lisa understood it was due to a ongoing 'arms race' of detection and counter measures.

"We'll catch them eventually," Izzy reassured her with a smile.

"Damn right," Lisa agreed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Optimus Prime felt a deep satisfaction as he reviewed the files of the attack on the Nemesis even as the other Autobots conversed behind him. He had been leading the charge and hadn't had as much time as he wanted to review what had happened and what they had discovered.

It was good that they had destroyed the Space Bridge, but nearly as important they had destroyed the supplies of Energon too. Personally he hated to see the resources go to waste, but it was better than them falling into Decepticon hands. If such a quantity of Energon had been sent to Cybertron, the Decepticons would have gained a immense advantage.

"I wish we had been able to salvage some of the Space Bridge," Wheeljack noted, the inventor looking pensive, "we could have used one ourselves."

"No time," Iron Hide shook his head as he gruffly said, "there was no way we were grabbing anything when that new bunch popped out of the Bridge."

"Sunstorm was murder to stop," Tracks noted, the stylish sports car frowning slightly.

The golden alloyed Decepticon had charged the attacking Autobots as they blew up the Bridge, and the fusion generator within him made him a tough customer. Sunstorm had bodily tossed around Transformers like toys, only the combined firepower of several troops finally bringing him down.

'We were lucky he was disoriented by transit,' Optimus admitted, though he wouldn't say that aloud. Must maintain the image of the confident commander, no matter how he actually felt.

"Prime!" Jazz called as he hurried in, the Autobot grinning, "We ran into a Decepticon scout force and clobbered them! No losses on our side,but we took out a Starscream clone and forced them to dump their Energon."

"Well done," Optimus nodded, "was Megatron with them?"

"Sorry," Ratchet shook his head, the ambulance Autobot looking regretful, "just foot troops. I think he's licking his wounds, as the humans would say."

"I never understood that saying," Kup noted, the older Autobot shaking his head. "So, Megs is hiding out? Good."

"No, we need to track him down," Optimus said firmly. "The longer Megatron remains hidden, the more likely he'll launch some kind of new plan against us."

There was a uncomfortable shuffling as the elation of the victory was replaced with a degree of concern. "We're sending out scout parties, but I don't want to send out small groups," Sideswipe noted, "we'd be too easy for Decepticons to ambush."

"True," Optimus conceded. He looked over at the squad's inventor, Wheeljack, "Any luck on upgrading our tracking satellites?"

"I'm working on it," Wheeljack admitted, "but it's slow going." Ruefully he added, "We ended up spotting the Decepticons last time from simple aerial photos, maybe we'll get lucky again."

"Maybe so," Optimus agreed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Megatron did his best not to snarl, though it was difficult. The off gray Decepticon crouched down as he entered the tunnel in Kentucky, shuffling along until the passage opened up into a larger , artificial chamber.

One, this had been a human run coal mine, but it had 'played out' as the humans said, and ultimately been abandoned. Found on a mission the Decepticons had quietly taken over, sending the Constructicons in to widen and prepare the tunnels as a emergency base.

'Not that I ever intended to use it,' Megatron thought bitterly, standing up, 'but I wanted to be prepared. Now, I'm glad I did.'

The Insecticons chittered to each other nervously even as they ate at the walls, processing dirt and coal scraps for fuel. The Constructicons were out scouting the other tunnels, looking into expanding the base. Thrust was watching the cloning tubes where copies of his brother Starcream were being created. Much of the rest of their numbers were deeper in the Earth, extracting coal to make Energon.

'The coal might be exhausted by human standards, but we have technology they can only dream of,' Megatron thought proudly.

Darkshadow, the female Decepticon, walked towards him as she studied the soldiers around them. "Lord Megatron," she bowed slightly as she said, "I regret we were not able to do more in the Nemesis defense."

"I've reviewed the files," Megatron said flatly, "the numbers were overwhelming. I'm lucky you got as many Decepticons out as you did." Mentally he added, 'And I cannot offend you, considering you are the only reinforcements I have.'

"Sir," Darkshadow nodded seriously. "I believe all the survivors have reported in," she added calmly, "there are... not as many as we had hoped."

"We lost many fighters in the arctic attack, on Nemesis and over the past few months," Megatron nodded. He looked over at the cloning chambers and dryly noted, "We were lucky to save those, they provide much of my cannon fodder."

"Too bad they're not terribly smart," Darkshadow noted dryly.

Megatron grunted, but had to concede the point. He looked down at the smaller transformer as he asked, "When will your team be ready to mobilize?"

"We'll need time to recover from the transit," Darkshadow admitted reluctantly. "We came through just as the Autobots were firing on the Bridge, it made the transit... rather uncomfortable."

Megatron nodded, conceding the point. Normally using the Space Bridge was simple, if energy consuming, but going through it while someone was trying to destroy it? He didn't know what that must have been like...

"Once you and your people are ready," Megatron said flatly, "we need to prepare to strike back at the Autobots. We are on the defensive for the moment, but I refuse to stay that way."

"As you command, Megatron," Darkshadow bowed slightly as she walked away.

AS she walked away Megatron looked at his dispirited troops and silently worried. It was a bad sign that no one was even challenging him for leadership, at this point. After a defeat SOME fool always tried to seize power, and Megatron always put them down. But now the Decepticons were so shocked they weren't even doing that.

'Of course Darkshadow will strike at me when she can, but she's a special case,' Megatron mused. The woman had clearly longed for greater power for a long time, and she was sure to seize the chance to gain it. 'Just like a good Decepticon,' Megatron thought, smiling.

Feeling restless Megatron strode deeper into the tunnels, stooping where needed to make his way to where the Constructicons were digging deeper and wider tunnels for them to use. There was something oddly soothing, watching them dig, the coal extraction and the conversion to energon.

"Scrapper, how goes it?" Megatron asked as he picked up a fragment of energon and digested it.

The loader in robot mode turned, nodding briskly. "We should have sufficient quantities of raw energon to start restoring our power reserves." He hesitated a moment, "Without Soundwave, we're going to have problems storing it into cubes."

Megatron felt that pang of loss, but kept the pain off his face. "I'm sure you will figure out something," he said, "or I can always put Hook in charge."

"We'll figure it out," Scrapper gave a dangerous look to his second in command.

"Do so," Megatron smiled coldly as the group resumed working. 'Ah, rivalry was always a good motivator,' he mused as he turned away. 'Possibly I can use it to motivate my troops too?'

"AAAh!" a voice roared and Megatron dodged, barely escaping a blow. Bonecrusher, the bulldozer, swung at Megatron again, this time hammering him backwards.

"Fool," Megatron spat, "stop this now."

"You're too weak to rule! Devastator will...," Bonecrusher growled.

Swinging his arm cannon around Megatron calmly blew Bonecrusher's arm off, making the transformer yelp in agony. Then he calmly blew the other arm off before kicking Bonecrusher on his back. "Are you done?" he asked pleasantly.

"Y.. yes," Bonecrusher moaned weakly.

"The only reason I'm not extinguishing your spark is because I need you," Megatron growled, "don't make me regret the decision." He turned to Hook, "Repair him."

"Yes, Lord Megatron!" Hook groveled as Megatron walked away.

To be continued...


	17. Chapter 17

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Chapter Seventeen

It got very frustrating flying patrols with no peep from the Decepticons, Izzy Randal found. The green haired pilot returned to Fortress One with no kills and no sightings to report, a frustrating development indeed. Of course it was a report echoed by pilots from other carriers and their Autobot allies, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

Lining up to the landing lights she throttled back as she hit the deck, cutting engines as the capture nets deployed. She rolled forward, stopping on the elevator and descended into the massive armored aircraft carrier. As soon as the fighter was in place crewmen swarmed over it, beginning the maintenance cycle that would last until shortly before it launched again.

"Lt!" Roy Fokker grinned, the blond haired former fighter jock having just arrived on Fortress One for his new position. Bumped up to a Lt. Commander Roy was now in charge of the fighter command on the ship, as well as liasoning with other carriers.

"Hey old man," Izzy grinned at him, jogging over to where he stood.

"I'll old man you," Roy moved to clout her upside the head.

Izzy laughed, ducking under the blow. "Good to have you back," she noted as they walked side by side deeper into the ship.

"Well, we'll see," Roy shrugged slightly, the taller man looking faintly haunted. He had been a pilot for a very, very long time, and he wasn't sure if he still wanted to be in the service without flying a fighter. On the other hand, he wasn't sure what else to do with himself...

"Look on the bright side," Izzy offered as they headed to the changing rooms, "you can go see Claudia when you're both off shift. And you're not likely to get seperated any time soon."

A faint blushed colored Roy's cheeks as he admitted, "That's a plus." Briskly he said, "You have time for a informal briefing?"

"For who, and how informal?" Izzy asked a him bit suspiciously.

"Very informal, and just Claudia, Lisa and Gloval," Roy told her. "Mostly they want your opinion on new weapons the brass are thinking of introducing."

"I suppose I could do that," Izzy conceded as they reached the door to the change room. "Now if you don't mind, I REALLY need a shower."

"Scrub your back?" Roy offered jokingly.

Izzy opened the door and went in as she told him over her shoulder, "Don't even think about it, you old horndog."

A few minutes later after a hasty shower and a change into fresh fatigues, Izzy felt a little more ready to face the boss. 'God, I wish I had time to do my hair or something,' she thought, imagining Lisa's amused look as she ran her hands through her hair to try to straighten it a bit.

Lisa Hayes did indeed look faintly amused, the brown haired woman smiling in greeting as Izzy entered the meeting room. "Hello, Izzy," she smiled.

"Commander." Izzy nodded to Lisa, "Captain," to Claudia, then "Admiral," to Gloval. She shook his hand, "It's been a long time, sir."

"Indeed," the old Russian nodded. "At ease, we're all friends here," Admiral Gloval said, "please, take a seat."

Izzy nodded respectfully, controlling her surprise at how he appeared. Gloval was shockingly old to Izzy, looking much older than he actually was. 'Has running the war with the Decepticons been as hard on him as this?' she wondered.

Roy casually took a seat by Claudia, while Lisa stood by the monitor built into the wall. "What Admiral Gloval wants is our opinions on the new transformable mecha that are in development or are near launching," Lisa said. "I'm going to review some of the data here, then we'll talk."

With that Lisa went over the new mecha about to be mobilized. The Super Veritech was finally ready to go, after multiple delays, and the Hover-tanks were also nearly ready to go into full production. There were also concept sketches for a cycle transformer and a patrol boat design.

"I like the Hover-tanks," Izzy noted, "but what moron decided on a open cockpit?"

Roy hid a wince at how outspoken she was, but couldn't disagree. "There are snipers among the Decepticons," he noted, "hell, just a lucky shot could blow the driver away."

"Someone at command was thinking more about the heroic image of a pilot riding into battle, no doubt," Gloval conceded.

"Seriously, sir, they're death traps like this," Izzy said.

"I'll write up a recommendation to provide a armored canopy," Gloval nodded reassuringly, "and I hope you'll sign it too. Having line officers supporting the change would help."

From his tone Izzy figured he had objected already, and was here for more ammunition to bring to the argument. Which was fine with her, honestly. "How soon can we get a hold of those new Veritechs?" Izzy asked, easily imagining the kind of damage she could do with the upgraded weapons, Not to mention the improved boosters.

"They're going to senior plots first," Lisa grinned, "but yes, you're in line to get one."

"I'm not so sure about the cycle transformer," Izzy noted as she called up a image on her personal screen on the table, "I can see how it'd be useful for certain jobs like bodyguarding or some scout missions. But does it have enough firepower to protect itself from a Decepticon?"

"Hell, the armor's too light to take a direct hit," Roy noted, frowning.

"The design is focused on speed and maneuverability," Claudia pointed out responsibly. "They won't be going toe to toe with the enemy."

"We won't be choosing drivers based on the usual pilots," Gloval noted, "we won't encourage direct confrontation with Decepticons."

"Why is there a note about numbers saturation?" Izzy noted dryly. "Command WILL throw these things at Decepticons as cannon fodder, if it comes to that."

"Then let's hope it doesn't come to that," Gloval sighed.

Roy nodded slightly. "And what about the car variation?" he changed the subject.

Claudia shrugged eloquently, "What's the POINT? The Autobots already have that covered, don't they?" She scowled, "Someone just wanted a really cool car, didn't they?"

Gloval didn't exactly deny that, hiding a smile. "It might be useful on some infiltration missions," he suggested mildly.

"It would be just as easy having Arcee do it," Izzy noted flatly. "Seriously, if you have to make one for the admiral in question and that's it."

Lisa fought back a snicker, suspecting her own father might be behind the idea. "We'll put together a report based on this meeting then," she said, "everyone okay with that?"

"No problem," Claudia agreed as she got up. She checked her watch, "I believe Roy and I are off shift at the moment?"

Gloval smiled wryly as Claudia bodily dragged Roy off, "Have fun you two."

Izzy fought back a chuckle as she stood along with Lisa. "It's good to see you, sir," she told Gloval, "are things going well with command?"

"Much the same as usual," Gloval got up, stretching, "in between the military decisions there is the usual fighting of factions. I swear I spend as much time fighting my fellows as the Decepticons."

"At least you can shoot at the Decepticons," Izzy noted with a faint smile.

"Indeed," Gloval laughed softly.

"Would you like me to escort you off the ship?" Lisa offered politely and the older man moved to leave.

Gloval chuckled, "I'm sure I can waylay a ensign." He tilted his head and asked, "Aren't you and Izzy off shift?"

"We are," Lisa conceded, wondering what he was up to.

"Why don't you both go get some dinner," Gloval said as the taller man ducked under the hatch, "I'm sure you'd have more fun than escorting me off the shift."

"Yes sir," Izzy nodded as he walked away. There was a beat of silence then she looked over at Lisa, "Did he just set us up?"

"Looks like it," Lisa nodded, chuckling. "You mind?"

Izzy smiled back, "No, it's fine. Do you wanna get changed before we hit the cafeteria?"

"Better not," Lisa noted, "with our luck something else will come up."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Arcee liked driving alone, sometimes. With the situation with the Decepticons she couldn't do it as much as she wanted, but occassionally it was nice to just get outside and race, the whind whistling by and the sun shining on her hood.

Today was less carefree as she raced across the desert silently, investigating a odd energy report from the Ark. There was power where human maps showed nothing, and a flare of energy that was frankly unearthly. She reached the hulls were the energy reading came from and slowed, advancing more carefully to avoid detection.

Arcee moved up slowly, hugging the rocks for cover, and eventually reached a rise over a deep valley. Too deep, she instantly judged, realizing that the place had been mined somehow. Her visual processors picked up Megatron immediately, thought she didn't recognize the vehicles he faced.

"Combaticons," Megatron said flatly, "you were once scum, criminals that Cybertron could not tolerate. You were held indeffinately, condemned because of your treachery against me, a move you repeated under Starscream."

Onslaught, the missile truck, transformed into robot mode. "You wouldn't have called us back from exile just to abuse us," he said, the blue-green bodied robot studying Megatron thoughtfully.

"I am willing to accept you back," Megatron nodded, "and ore, will repair and upgrade your bodies. But in return you must serve me loyaly, or die."

The jeep transformed into Swindle, the Decepticon looking at Megatron thoughtfully. "IF we form Bruticus, you couldn't stop us," he noted.

"Oh no?" Megatron smile coldly as the Stuntacons formed up behind him, the implicit threat of them forming the combiner Menasor there.

'He has re-united the combiner Decepticons?' Arcee thought, honestly worried now. The combiners were some of the most dangerous Transformers, but they had difficulty cooperating to generate their gestalt forms. It looked like Megatron had overcome that limitation.

"With you, Devestator and Menasor I will crush the Autobot city," Megatron smiled coldly, "and rip Prime's spark out with my bare hands."

Silently Arcee moved down the slope, reaching the base then transforming into car mode. At the best speed she could manage while staying covert she raced off, determined to bring the information back to base. The Autobots had to know!

To be continued...


	18. Chapter 18

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Chapter Eighteen

Optimus Prime reacted pretty much as Arcee expected, calm but serious. He was a great commaner for the Autobots, and she strongly suspected he would become one of their legendary leaders. He leaned forward as he murmured, "The Stuntacons, Contructicons and the Combaticons? This is a grave threat."

"We spotted the meeting by satellite survelance after Arcee contacted us. They were dispersing at the time," Perceptor noted, the scientist looking troubled, "but we confirmed the presence of all three teams of combiners."

"I think we need to recall the Protectabots and Aerialbots teams to Autobot City," Ultra Magnus suggested gravely.

"Not necessarily," Optimus sighed, the red and silver Autobot looking troubled.

Arcee frowned slightly then realized what he meant. "You think they let us find them?" she asked, "To trick us somehow?"

"I can think of targets that would be more valuable to hit than Autobot City," Optimus admitted, frowning thoughtfully. "The factories where the humans build their fighters would cripple them, if they were destroyed."

"We've put out warnings to our human allies," Magnus noted, "Gloval himself seemed quite concerned. They are stepping up patrols as well."

"We need to find the 'Cons base," Ironhide drawled, the older Transformer shaking his head. "We have to hit 'em and keep hittin' 'em."

"I agree old friend," Optimus nodded, "but finding them is the problem." He made a face, "It's part of why I want the Aerialbots out on patrol, they can cover a search grid much faster than anyone of us can."

Arcee nodded grimly. "Permission to return to the search?" she asked.

"As you wish," Optimus nodded and watched as she hurried off. He sat back with a sigh as he told Magnus, "We need a clue, something to point to where the Decepticons are hiding, or we'll never stop them for good."

"We'll stop them," Magnus said firmly, "it's just a matter of time."

Outside Arcee switched to sportcar mode, racing off down the road from their base in the mountains. She knew the Decepticons wouldn't attack the Ark, it was too powerfully fortified. That left Autobot City, the human Fortresses and their factories. She would determine the enemy's target and stop them... she was sure of it.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

There was trouble on Cybertron. Shockwave was the most powerful of Decepticons on the planet, and he held on to rule in Megatron's name, but he could feel his grip on power fraying. The Autobots were launching more and more successful raids against his forces and worse there was dissatisfaction growing in his own people.

It was the Autobots successful attack on the Nemesis on Earth that did it, Shockwave knew. The Decepticon leader had been shown as weak, unable to even protect his headquarters, much less the precious energon reserves there. If he couldn't protect that, what could the people of Cybertron expect of him?

Making things worse were the quiet rebellions of the worker drones. Repairs weren't done properly, energon stocks were spoiled, even supplies were being rerouted to the Autobots! And all of it done secretly, on such small scale that he couldn't even trace back the crimes to those responsible. IT was frustrating, like being nibbled to death by cyberrats.

And what was most distressing... Shockwave found his own confidence waning. He had willingly followed Megatron for ages, but now, he began to wonder. The constant stream of failures from Earth, the tiny fleshlings who somehow achieved a transforming technology that could match a Cybertronian, it seemed impossible. The Decepticons should be crushing these fleshlings! They had the power, the tactrics, the EXPERIENCE. Yet again and again, they lost.

For the first time in a age Shockwave knew doubt... and it ate at him.

In another part of Cybertron, the news of Decepticon losses were met with joy and a impromptu party. "Damn it, stop celebrating," Springer complained as the green triple changer was given a heroes welcome to the moon base of Iacon.

"Oh don't spoil it," Elita One noted mildly, the older feminine Autobot looking amused. "We know we haven't won the war, but it's nice to see Megatron get knocked on his ass."

"I'm more worried about what he'll do when he gets back up," Springer said darkly.

"Tell us bout how you scragged Soundwave!" Dion asked eagerly, the older Autobot a member of the security teams for Iacon.

"I didn't," Springer said, then with a sigh told the story about the oil rig ambush again.

"You sound like you really admire these humans," a older, cranky looking Autobot observed.

"I do," Springer admitted, "they're taking the same sort of risks we are, but they die a hell of a lot more easily."

"Okay, everyone, dinner time," another Autobot called as he carried in a tray of energon tablets, "eat up."

Springer felt a bit of guilt over getting a slightly larger portion, but rationalized it by reminding himself he'd be fighting for his life soon enough. As he ate he asked Elita One, "Is there a reason they're not happy about Earthers?"

Elita One looked amused, "Well, I have been spreading around the footage of the Humans beating Megatron back and nearly killing him when he attacked their Fortresses. Not to mention your recent ambush of his forces."

"They didn't nearly kill him," Springer had to say.

"I edited it a bit," Elita One admitted. As he looked at her annoyed she continued, "It's propeganda, Springer. Every time the Decepticons loose, we need to make the planet know. And if I can, I want them terrified of the humans, if only for the psychological value."

Springer grunted softly. "Just don't underestimate the humans," he said after a moment, "they might really be a serious threat to the Decepticons."

"Oh?" Elita One had to ask.

"There's more of them, they appear to be very good at developing and improving on technology and they have some very good pilots," Springer shrugged. "If they can continue to build and man their Veritechs they could end up winning by sheer numbers."

Elita One digested that. "Do you think Megatron knows?" she asked.

"I hope not," Springer said, "because if he does he's smart enough to do something about it."

Changing the subject Elita One noted, "One thing our propoganda has been doing is fanning the dissatisfaction the Decepticons are feeling towards Megatron. Any time a leader looks weak, someone will make a move."

"You seriously think there might be a uprising here?" Springer had to ask.

"A few more losses," Elita One shrugged, "who knows?"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"So let me get this straight," Izzy said as they sat through a briefing, "these... combiner transformers can hook up into a giant, more powerful form?"

"That would be correct, yeah," Roy Fokker agreed, he, along with a few others, briefing senior pilots on the situation.

"So why don't they just stay in combined mode?" Rick Hunter had to ask. "You'd think it'd make more sense."

"According to the files their combined form requires immense mental discipline from all five or so robots to maintain," Claudia noted. "As it is most of the combiners are idiots in their united state."

"So if they get into a mental argument they break up?" Roy nodded.

Izzy nodded thoughtfully, "We can use that. Plus, if they are that dumb we can trip 'em up and otherwise distract them."

"Just don't underestimate them," another senior pilot said grimly. "If they get a solid grip on you you're dead meat."

Lisa Hayes watched the pilots backing and forthing on what to do about the combiners and devising tactics. Izzy was right in the middle, as usual, and made guesses and suggested ideas at a furious pace. Sadly they just didn't know enough about the limitations on the combiners, so most of it was guesswork.

"All right everyone," Roy took over briskly, "get the data packets back to your teams. We don't know when, or even if, we'll be fighting these things so get your pilots briefed."

The squadron leaders filed out, leaving Izzy, Lisa, Claudia and Roy. "Nicely done," Izzy smiled, "you getting used to the top spot yet?"

"Getting there," Roy admitted. He smiled grimly, "I think I'm actually a bit more stressed than I was, knowing I have this many pilots depending on me."

Lisa smiled, "Now you know how I felt."

"Oh, mean," Roy smiled.

Claudia snickered, "Come on, lover boy. We've got work to do."

Izzy got up, walking over to Lisa as she asked, "You busy?"

Lisa looked at her curiously but replied, "I've got my second in command covering the bridge, so I can take a little time."

The two women walked together, Izzy leading until they took a hatch up onto the deck of the Fortress. The sea breeze blew across their faces, the two women standing in the shadow of one of the canons. There was a moment of serene silence, despite the cries of seagulls and the splash of the waves.

"You know, I'm actually happy that Roy has pretty much taken over the fighter management from you," Izzy noted as they stood close together.

"Was I that bad at it?" Lisa asked wryly.

"No, because this way you're not as directly in my chain of command," Izzy said. "You see, when you're my direct boss it makes doing something like this rather complicated."

Lisa was about to ask what 'this' was when Izzy stepped forward and kissed her lingeringly. Now, Lisa had been kissed a few times, but this... this was something else. She nearly felt herself swoon like some pulp heroine, but managed to get herself under control.

"I hope I wasn't out of line," Izzy said softly as they finally pulled apart.

"No, no," Lisa laughed, "I've wanted you to do that for weeks."

Izzy smiled back, "You weren't exactly sending clear signals, you know."

Lisa shrugged, "Well, I haven't really done this before." She leaned in close for another kiss as she added, "But I'm willing to practice..."

To be continued...

Notes: Sorry for the late update. This chapter has been giving me fits.


	19. Chapter 19

Robotech vs Transformers: Revenge Road

Chapter Nineteen

Decepticons did not take to rationing well, Darkshadow noted as the female design Decepticon stalked through the old mine. The troops grumbled at the limited energon available, and bickered among themselves over who got the larger share. Shockblast finally tried to take a bit from Runamuck, and of course a brawl broke out, the two drawing in friends to support them.

'Fools,' Darkshadow thought as she calmly drew her pistol and blasted it into the earth between them.

"Hey!" Runabout yelped.

"Cease this foolishness," Darkshadow growled. "We are saving energon for when we attack the Autobots. We will need full reserves then!"

"But he had more than me!" Scrapper bitched.

"I do not care," she ground out. Darkshadow met his eyes, "Continue, and I will rip your spark out of your body and torture it for a cycle."

Several Decepticons looked worried as the group quieted down. No one knew if she could actually DO that, but no one was taking chances.

"Good," Darkshadow nodded as she left the chamber and moved on.

Megatron was studying the map in the command center, but he was well aware of her as he said, "Good work in there."

"They are growing restless, Lord Megatron. We need to strike soon," she urged him.

"Not until I determine when and where," Megatron shook his head. "Have you really LOOKED at the tactical situation here, Darkshadow?"

Darkshadow bristled, but contained her reaction. "I studied summaries before I arrived," she conceded. "Is there something I missed?"

Megatron grunted softly then conceded, "Even I didn't realize, until Reflector managed to get a full download of their military production."

Darkshadow studied the images an the screens, the data and files spread out to be easily cross referenced. It took a moment, because of the massive amount of data involved. "The military hasn't fully optimized building their transforming fighters?" she realized.

"Correct," Megatron said with a smile, "we have only been facing the... initial output as they developed the technology. If these reports are accurate, they will go into full production soon."

"We've been fighting the initial run," Darkshadow digested that. "Do they estimate a production run?" she asked quietly.

"They are still complex to build, so it would not be a standard assembly line," Megatron said, "but... they estimate twenty a week, of both the Veritechs and other types."

Darkshadow paused, her eyes widening slightly. "We're going to be outnumbered very soon," she realized.

"Overwhelmingly so," Megatron agreed.

"Why do you seem... happy about this?" Darkshadow demanded.

Megatron's grin was oddly savage. "You weren't activated, when we Decepticons first rose up on Cybertron," he said after a moment.

"No, I wasn't," Darkshadow agreed impatiently.

"We were outnumbered then," Megatron said, "when the Autobots and their Senate ruled Cybertron. I took a rabble of gladiators, and together we took a city."

"No, it isn't," Megatron conceded willingly, "but... it has been a long time since I faced a challenge. I think I've missed it."

Darkshadow was glad to see the life in his eyes and hear energy in his voice. She had been worried, just a bit, that he had lost his nerve. "So, what will be our first move?" she asked.

"We will remind these humans what it means to face Decepticons, and make them experience our TRUE power," Megatron smiled coldly, "we will destroy one of their Fortresses."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The sea was calm and the breeze steady as the Russian Fortress carrier patrolled the Black Sea. Captain Justy Tylor of Fortress Fourteen was a odd duck, being put in charge of the Russian ship. He was there as a compromise between various factions of the UN military, appeasing Japanese and American interests while dealing with Russian objections by giving him a local second in command.

Commander Yuriko Zvezda was a attractive, brown haired woman born in a section of Russia not far from Japan, hence her name and mixed race. Partially because of her background she had pushed hard in advancing in the military, and had achieved a respectable rank in her early twenties.

Of course Justy was even younger, which frankly pissed Yuriko off. "Captain, could you at least try to look dignified?" she asked as the man lounged in his seat, hands crossed over his chest and cap pulled down over his eyes.

"I am completely aware of what's going on," Justy shrugged, "and I'm comfy."

Commander Taira, the poor soul in charge of fighter command, bit back a sigh. He could have pushed for a slot on the older Fortresses, but no... he HAD to be on the latest one. Sadly, it appeared to be run by a idiot. Or a genius, if you believed high command's assessment of him.

"Did you want the current tactical update, sir?" Yuriko asked frostily.

"No, but you're probably going to give it to me anyway?" Justy noted cheerfully.

Yuriko just ignored that. "The high command has sent out a update," she started.

"Meaning Admiral Gloval," Justy noted from beneath his cap, "as the rest of command is lucky to find their asses with both hands."

That nearly made Yuriko slap him, but honestly he was pretty much right. Besides, she felt a small glow of pride as having a countryman of hers at such a high rank. Clearing her throat she continued, "Increased Decepticon activity is expected in North America, with primary targets being Autobot City, Metroplex, and factories for Veritechs and Destroids. All related military units are to be on higher alert."

Taira smiled faintly as he noted, "Well, we're well out of that line of fire."

"I would rather fight beside our fellow soldiers," Yuriko said frostily.

"You may get your wish," Justy said as he sat up. "I want us on yellow alert," he ordered, "and get the fighter patrols out."

"Sir?" Taira looked surprised, "Why would we come under attack?"

"Radar contact!" the sensors officer yelped, as something just appeared on the edge of their sensor range.

Everyone looked at Justy in shock as he leaned forward intently. Calmly he explained, "Megatron HAS to know we'd expect him to hit the primary targets, so he might decide to hit a softer target, relatively speaking."

"A softer target like us," Yuriko realized. Then she hurried to her station, "Gun crews to your posts! Destroids to the elevators!"

"Fighters, get to the slingshot," Taira echoed her from the fighter command station, "Super Veritechs take priority!"

"Sensors, what have we got?" Justy asked grimly.

"They are too tightly packed to get a solid return," the young man answered seriously, "but by the size of the mass I'd guess at least ten Decepticons. Maybe more."

Communications reported, "We've sent a flash message to command. Should I request reinforcements?"

"Not yet," Justy said "Let's see what they've got."

Fighters were roaring down the deck even as the Destroids rose up on their lifts. Box munitions were moved into place as the guns swivelled out to take aim. Before they could fire the Decepticons opened up, blasting energy bolts into the armor and showing that THEIR range was still a lot longer than the human forces.

"Crap," Taira breathed out as he realized what, exactly, the Decepticons were doing. Clearly they understood how dangerous the Veritechs were, and were doing their best to keep them from getting into the air with long range fire. Some were still launching, thankfully, but they were already suffering losses.

"We're going to have to get fighters on patrol constantly, after this," Justy grunted as the ship was rocked by a powerful blast. "Oh great," he noted, "Megatron is leading the charge."

The ship's guns finally began firing, and the main mass of Decepticons split into two smaller units. Each one swung out then pincered in on the Fortress, firing steadily as the ship jerked and lurched under concentrated fire.

Super Veritechs tried to engage the attacking forces, but each group just peeled off a few fighters to hold them off then continued their relentless pounding of the fortress. The worst were Megatron's blasts, but all the Decepticons were giving the carrier a pounding.

"Ooof," Yuriko grunted, holding on to her control panel as the Captain muttered something. "What, sir?" she asked with a lot more respect. Clearly, he DID know what he was doing.

"Where are the combiners?" Justy repeated. "This appears to be a serious assault, so where are their really big guns?"

"I..." the sensors man started.

"Sonar," Justy said, his eyes narrowing, "what's under us?"

The sensors officer let his hands fly across the control, muttering. "Our sonar rig isn't great, sir..." After a moment he said flatly, "Large sensor return, not far under us."

Justy made a snap decision, "All non-essential crew to life boats! All other crew in life-jackets! Get ready to evac at a moment's notice."

"You think they're going to...?" Taira asked.

"Devestator or whichever combiner is down there is probably going to be their killing blow," Justy nodded. "We've got depth charges... drop them on him. I doubt they'll stop him, but by god they'll hurt the bastards."

"Yes sir!" Yoriko agreed eagerly. Whatever happened today... she was honoured to be fighting beside a captain like this!

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Megatron smiled as the gutted wreck sank beneath the waves, life rafts pouring out to cover the water. The Fortress had been a hard kill, the humans packed them with as much armor and weapons as possible. It was almost Decepticon-like of them, really.

"Should we kill the survivors?" Stormbringer asked eagerly, the fighter hovering nearby.

"No," Megatron decided, "I want them to live." He smiled, "They will spread the word to the other humans that the Decepticons are back..."

To be continued...


End file.
